All The Difference In The World
by MajorMutation
Summary: [COMPLETE] They shared one incredible night, but after her sudden disappearance, Helga reemerges at Hillwood University, having gone through some drastic changes, but so has Arnold. Can Arnold love the new Helga, can Helga love the new Arnold? Read to find out! Rated for slight adult content and for future chapters. R&R!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So, I came up with this story a while ago, but I couldn't get it out of my head, so I decided to write it. After disappearing for three years, Helga reemerges at Hillwood University, having gone through some drastic changes, but over the course of three years, so has Arnold. Can Arnold love the new Helga, can Helga love the new Arnold? Read to find out where they have been! **

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Arnold sat in the lecture hall, already bored out of his mind. But comparing it to the last few years of his life, it was probably better that way. He sat in his seat in the back, slumped back in his chair, cheek being mashed into his fist for support, with what he was sure was a dull expression on his face. _Geez, ten minutes into the first day of this class and I'm already bored out of my mind. Stupid general education crap. _After meeting with his adviser over the summer, he had agreed to take mostly general education, along with a few courses pertaining to his actual chosen major, and luckily enough, intro to geological studies was next on his schedule, but not before two horrendous hours of what Arnold thought was the most monotone man on the face of the earth.

His mind had a lot of memories to flash back to. Lord knows he's been through enough for any one person in the past three years. But this time, his mind had taken him back to a night he had, much to his dismay, had no such luck forgetting.

**FLASHBACK: **

As he made his way slowly through the congested main foyer of the Lloyd home, he still had a firm mind set of finding her. He took advantage of his six foot one height and looked over the top of the crowd to see if he could spot her, just a blip of blonde in a sea of drunken, recently graduated teens. After scanning the entirety of the room with out spotting her, he made his way through the crowd again. After more than enough 'excuse me's' and 'pardon me's', he got to the living room and began to search. After scanning the faces of the mostly either lip locked couples, or people simply sitting in random locations taking rather long swigs of what ever alcohol they could find, he still couldn't spot her.

After searching through each room, he finally made his way out onto the balcony, where yet another throng of people were dancing to the music being blared through the sound system in a massive heap of gyrating limbs. He went over to the side and leaned over against the railing, trying to avoid the people trying to pull him into the crowd, until he finally spotted her. Sitting on a bench, arms and legs crossed, alone, gazing out over the small pond, she was practically begging him to come talk to her.

Ignoring his first instinct to jump the side, he made his way outside, and over behind the bench to wear he saw her sitting, and where she still was. "Parties aren't any fun if you spend the entire time alone, you know." He said, surprising her, but still not managing to make her crack even a fake smile. She simply whipped around, took recognition of who it was, and turned back around.

"Yeah well, I spend the majority of my life alone, why should tonight be any different?" She asked.

"Because tonight, you're suppose to be having fun." He replied, coming to stand next to her, but still not moving to sit down next to her.

"I've never been one to follow status quot, Arnold." She said in an emotionally blank voice.

"Are you rebelling against society for telling you to have fun, or against Rhonda by not drinking all of her parents booze?"

"What ever statement you think I'm making by sitting out here is yours and yours alone. You can take it and run if you want, but don't expect me to start any rally's." Her voice was still void of emotion, or maybe there was a hint of sadness she was trying to cover up. Either way, he still wanted to talk to her.

"Mind if I sit down, or do you prefer to protest alone?" She looked up at him with a raised eye brow and slid over. He sat down, and placed his hands in his pockets before setting his gaze out onto the small body of water in front of them. "I liked your poem yesterday at the Assembly. I forgot you wrote poetry."

"Not exactly some one worth remembering, Arnold."

"And what makes you think that?" He challenged her.

She turned to look at him with a raised eye brow, as if to ask him if it wasn't obvious. "Come on, Arnold. You of all people should know. When was the last time we conversed? Fifth, sixth grade maybe?"

"Doesn't mean I forgot about you."

"Not exactly like you remembered either."

A pang of guilt ran through him. Maybe they had drifted apart in middle school, but that's what happens sometimes. You meat new people, and the old people meet new people, and you just... drift apart. "Well, how bout we make up for lost time. Hi! I'm Arnold." She eyed him sarcastically, and looked down at his extended hand, and after a moment of pause, she reached over, rather awkwardly and shook it, with no response. "And you are?"

"Patronizing me will get you nowhere."

"Well, neither has being nice, and that's always worked for me." She eyed him again, and he quickly corrected himself. "Well, maybe not always. But I figured it was worth one more shot. But for what it's worth, I really did like your poem yesterday. You deserved to win the contest."

"There were only eight people who entered, and I didn't even enter it myself. My english teacher did it on my behalf with out my consent and didn't bother to tell me till I was being told I had to read it."

"You know, Helga, some people take the good things away from life, instead of clinging to the bad."

"Well, when one comes along, I'll make sure to snatch it up."

"Come on, there has to be something in your life that's not half bad. What about Phoebe? Aren't you two best friends?"

"Phoebe started taking all AP courses freshman year, so I never got to see her. And after a while we just, sort of stopped trying."

"No reason you can't start again now."

"Oh yeah, other than the fact that she's going to Yale and Gerald is tagging along, while I'm stuck here."

"You're not going to college?"

"Can't afford to."

"I thought your dad was the cell phone czar or something."

"He might be. I couldn't tell you. Haven't seen him in about five years."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, if you must know. Circuit Central moved into the mall, and Bob couldn't keep up with their prices, and started lowering his to get back customers. But eventually, they bought him out for fifty grand. He closed up shop, took the money, along with all our savings, and ran off. Haven't seen him since. Meanwhile, Miriam is still trying to drink herself to death, and Olga still can't cope with the fact that her father is a complete scum bag, and refuses to believe that he's never coming back. So she's a struggling, out of work actor in LA. And I on the other hand have to take on as many hours as I can get at work just to keep our apartment. So no, I don't think college is really an option."

"Wasn't it one of your dreams to travel the world? See Paris?"

"The pleasure of a dream is that it's fantasy. If it actually happens, it was never a dream."

He leaned forward and slowly put a gentle hand on her knee, which caused her to eye him curiously. "That doesn't mean you can't do it."

"Hate to break your fatal optimism streak, Arnold, but I can't even afford three meals a day, let alone a trip to the other side of the world."

"Maybe some day. You never know what the future holds, Helga."

"Maybe not, but I don't think the powers at be would take too kindly to me thinking on the bright side of things for a change."

"I remember when Helga G. Pataki didn't let any one or anything control her."

"I also remember when I had a uni-brow and wore a pink bow. Times change, Arnold."

A thought occurred to him. _Could I really bring that up? Maybe I could catch her off guard. _"I also remember when you used to be madly in love with me." He threw on a smirk, but she remained unshaken.

"Yeah well, I realized a long time ago that life wasn't going to turn out the way I had it planned out as a ten year old little girl with a crush. So I decided to stop fooling myself into thinking it was, start seeing things for what they really were. And that's exactly what that was... a crush, nothing more."

"Helga..." He placed a hand on her shoulder and urged her to look at him. "If it... means anything to you, no one's ever kissed me as passionately as you did that day on that roof."

"I don't need you to pity me, Arnold. I was ten, I'm over it." She said, but her eyes had still not left his.

"What if I'm not?" Arnold realized they had been moving closer, slowly drifting toward one another, their voices growing to a harsh whisper the more they spoke.

Helga's eyes darted down to Arnold's lips, that were now an inch away from hers. "Than I'd call you a liar." She whispered.

"It's me, Helga. I never lie." Arnold was breathing rather heavily, and he could feel his heart thump against his chest. _What am I so nervous about? It's just Helga. _

"Prove it." She said, just before she crashed her lips against his. Arnold responded instantly, pushing against her, and at the same time, reveling in the softness of her lips, and the faint scent of her shampoo. _Apples, _he thought to himself as he reached up and placed a hand on her neck. She reached up and snaked her arms around his neck, and pushed against him even harder to deepen the kiss further as Arnold opened his mouth against hers, and sucked in her bottom lip.

**PRESENT DAY: **

Arnold shook his head, trying to dislodge the events of that night from his head. But to his demise, they continued. How passionate she had kissed him, and how equally passionate he kissed her. How they found themselves crashing against the door of one of the bedrooms in the Lloyd mansion, and falling gracelessly on to the massive bed. His body still ached every time he thought of that magical night. It was the last time he had felt... at peace, since then. He still has the note that she had left for him, bidding him goodbye, and how he gave her one chance to feel loved. She disappeared after that, phone was disconnected, apartment was vacant, and no one knew a thing. That night still haunted his dreams, how the sheets were tousled and the pillows were thrown about, the slight buzz from the alcohol making it seem like the room had been shaking. How they had let each others name tumble from their swollen lips at climax.

He has had a lot happen since then. But one thought still ate away at him. _Where did she go? _She just... disappeared. No phone calls, no emails, not even a letter. It's as if the only place she ever existed was in his dreams. He can still remember how beautiful she was lying underneath him, how gorgeous she looked with nothing but a silk bed sheet covering her. On nights where he treats himself to one too many shots, he'll dig out her note and read it. But it's been a while.

He found himself absentmindedly writing the contents of her note down in his spiral bound notebook. He looked down at his scribbles at the one sentence that he has committed to memory. _You stole away my heart at first sight, so it's only fair I take it back at the last one. _It hasn't been the same since. She may have intended to take her heart back, but she stole his in the process. Now, three years later, and in his first year of college, back home at Hillwood University, his stolen heart still ached.

"Now, your first assignment will come out of your text books, on page 45, questions one through three." The professor droned on. The door opened on a burst, startling both the professor and the entire class. The girl, out of breath, and now sporting a some what sheepish smile, straightened up, gently closed the door and took an empty seat in the front.

Arnold felt something shift inside of himself at the woman's entrance. She was about five foot nine, shimmering blonde hair that looked sun washed, a light, healthy, natural looking tan, and absolutely captivating. But there was something... extraterrestrial about her that Arnold couldn't place. She had her hair back in a pony tail in the middle of her head, she was wearing a white undershirt tank top, with a long sleeved shirt tied around her waist, with a pair of denim jeans that hugged against her hips. She brushed a hand behind her ear to replace a stray strand of hair that had fallen out of her pony tail, and moved to get her text book out of her backpack. Upon turning to look inside her bag, Arnold noticed she had blue eyes, but they raptured his attention so much that Arnold's mind went blank. _That hair, that body, those eyes... it couldn't be... _

Class went on, and for the next two hours, Arnold spent the entire time closely studying this woman. He had become hyper-vigilant, a sort of heightened awareness that had come of his recent activities. She was right handed, and from what Arnold could make out, she had very neat hand writing. She wrote in a purple gel pen. Her notebook was pink, along with her running shoes she had on, and her backpack, as well as her hair tie that was keeping her pony tail together. She seemed still a bit antsy, after her sudden burst into class, as she was nervously drumming her fingers against her desk and bobbing her right foot up and down in a rapid pace. He couldn't see the top right corner of her notebook for her name, to confirm his suspicions, but he shot a quick glance over to the clock behind the professor, and saw that he only had five minutes left of class. Thinking ahead, he put his books back in his shoulder bag, and buckled it. The professor dismissed the class, and it roared to life, with the students getting up out of their chairs. But Arnold'd attention remained glued to the blonde haired girl he was determined to discover the identity of. He quickly weaved through the students and down the steps of the lecture hall, to the woman just getting up and slinging her back pack over her tanned shoulders.

He stopped and tugged on his field jacket, and approached her. He cleared his throat and tried to muster as much courage as he could. This woman seemed to suck it all right out of him. "Excuse me." He said in a small voice.

The woman whipped around at the sound of his voice, a surprised look on her face, and her deep blue eyes lit up with recognition. "Arnold?!" Her mouth held agape with a smile.

"Helga?" He asked in a whisper. He felt himself heat up inside as butterflies erupted in his stomach.

"ARNOLD!" She yelped as she jumped forward and flung her arms around his neck and hugged him. His body stiffened at the surprise, but then soon relaxed. He wrapped his arms around her mid section and held her to him tightly, unwilling to let her go, breathing her in. _After three years, she still smells like apples. __It feels so good to hold her. _"Oh my god, what are you doing here?!" She let him go, but kept her hands on his shoulders.

"I just started here. What about you?"

"Yeah, me too. Oh my god, it's so good to see you!" She jumped up and hugged him again. And Arnold wasted no time in hugging her back, burying his nose in the crock of her neck.

"Helga..." He pressed against her. "Where have you been?"

She smiled sheepishly and looked down at her feet. "Are you busy? It might take a while to explain."

"Uh, no. My next class isn't for another two hours. I've got time." _For you, I've got all the time in the world. _

"Great. You want to grab a cup of coffee with me then?"

Arnold smiled brightly back at her. "I'd love to."

They walked across campus to the coffee shop, and Arnold took this time to take in her presence, now confirming that it was Helga. She had a content smile on her face, she looked genuinely happy. She walked with purpose, head held high, with a confidence he hadn't seen in her. Not even when she was his childhood bully she wasn't this confident. She looked over to him and smiled brightly, but he quickly averted his gaze, and blushed slightly at being caught staring at her. She flung the door open to the cafe and went up to the counter, and ordered to regular coffees. They picked up their orders and Helga walked over to an empty table along the wall and sat down across from him. "It's so great to see you again, Helga."

She laughed and looked over to him. "Same here, Arnold."

"So, uh... big mystery. Where've you been for the past three years?"

She looked down at her coffee and paused for a moment. "I uh..." She looked back up at him with a confident smile. "I joined the peace core."

Arnold stopped for a minute to gather his thoughts around this new piece of vital information. "You what?" He asked, rather surprised.

"Yep. I joined the peace core."

"So... for the past three years you've been in..."

"Africa. West Africa actually. Living with a small tribe there."

"Wow. I'd never thought that you'd join the peace core. How'd it happen?"

"Well, my mom died a few days before graduation. I knew it was coming but, she was the only thing keeping me around. After she passed, I just needed to get away, and the peace core seemed like the best option. They fly you to another country and have you live with people you don't even know. At the time, I was just doing it to get away from the world, away from... everything. But, after a while, I started to realize that... my problems meant nothing. These people had to walk seven miles to the nearest source of fresh water, and ten miles to the nearest school, and the nearest hospital was about a two hour trip by car. But, these people were still happy. I mean, the day I landed, they came running up to me and hugging me. It was a big wake up call for me. I just realized that I may have not had the easiest life in the world, but compared to these people, it was a breeze. Sure my dad ran off, and my mom couldn't form a coherent sentence, but at least I had parents, and a bed to sleep in, water to drink and food to eat. I may have had personal problems of my own, and might have degraded myself, and been depressed, but... at least I had a home to go to. But after three years, I got nostalgic, and a bit homesick. So I hopped a plane home, and the core said they'd pay for part of my education, and I managed to get some scholarships in the process. So... here I am."

"Uh, wow! So... um... when did you leave?"

"The day after graduation." _She's avoiding the topic of Rhonda's party. I need to bring it up with out forcing it. _

"Did anybody know?"

"No. Who would I have told?"

"What about your sister, Olga?"

"I sent her a letter once I got settled. And she responded, saying how she was '_so proud of her baby sister!_'. We exchanged letters a few times, trying to keep in contact with the little family I have left. But other than her, no body knew."

"So, um..." _Might as well put it out there and get it over with, get through the awkward part. _"That night, at Rhonda's party, when..." Arnold let his sentence fall.

Helga smirked, and chuckled in response. "Yeah, I was going to tell you but, at the time, it wasn't the first thing on my mind."

"Right," Arnold leaned back in his chair and took a sip of his coffee. "I understand."

"I would have sent you a letter, but I didn't know how you'd take it."

"No, really, it's okay. I probably wouldn't have gotten it anyway."

Helga's look changed from a bit guilty to confused. "Why is that? Where have you been the past three years?"

Arnold smile and looked down at his cup. "I joined the military."

Helga spurted out her coffee onto the table, and began a coughing fit. "You what, now?"


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Really stoked about the response I got from the first chapter. Please keep them coming! I have lots of ideas for this story! **

**Disclaimer: Still not mine.**

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**FLASHBACK:**

There was a knock on Arnold's bedroom door, pulling him out of his nervous state with an alarmed gasp. "Yeah?"

"Hey bro, what's up? You sounded kinda scared on the phone." Gerald said, poking his head in the room with a concerned look on his face.

_"The number you have dialed is no longer in service, please hang up, and try again." _The mechanical voice said over the phone. Arnold shut his phone and fought the urge to throw it against the wall, settling for just tossing it on his desk. "I uh... Something happened last night, at the party."

"You mean with you and Pataki?" Gerald asked, leaning against the door jam with his hands casually tossed in his pockets.

Arnold spun around with a look of shock. "Uh, kind of."

"Mind telling me?" Arnold simply continued to pace across his bedroom floor. "You already know I know, so might as well spill it."

He let out a sigh and fell down on his bed. "Helga and I, we kind of got... carried away, last night."

"And something tells me that's not what has you burning a hole in your carpet." Arnold stood up and walked slowly over to his desk, where he had a small piece of paper sitting folded up next to his key board. He placed two fingers on top of it, and slid it off to his side.

"Read this." He said in a demanding voice. Gerald slowly walked over and unfolded the note. There was a minute or two of silence, while Gerald sat heavily down in Arnold's office chair. Arnold ran a hand through his unkempt hair as he heard Gerald fold the paper back up and place it back on the desk.

"Wow."

"I tried calling her, but her phone is disconnected. I tried going over to her place, but there was no answer. I can't get a hold of her at all."

"Well, judging by what it says here," He waved the note in the air. "It sounds to me like that's exactly what she wants."

"You don't understand, Gerald. Last night, me and her, we... I mean, it was... incredible."

"I guess that's why I heard that you two were practically tearing each others clothes off, slamming into one of the guest bedroom doors, just before it slammed shut."

"I mean, it's like we had this... connection. And she just, up and left? I've never felt like I have with her before, Gerald. I can usually control myself, but when we kissed, it's like, everything else shut down, and I turned... primal."

Gerald nodded his head from side to side, stood up, and placed his arm around his best friends shoulders. "At least you have last night, my man."

"This can't happen, Gerald. How could she just leave?"

"I think the sooner you come to realize that you may never get a chance to ask her, the sooner you'll be able to move on."

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**PRESENT DAY:**

"You what, now?"

"I joined the army." He confirmed. He knew it would be a bit of a shock, but he didn't think she would be this shocked.

"I'm sorry, but I think I just heard you say that you joined the army!" She had a confused look on her face, and Arnold remained leaned back in his chair with a content half lidded gaze and lop sided smile. He closed his eyes and nodded, and pointed to the name tag Velcro'd on his field jacket, reading 'Shortman'. "Wow, that's just, um... so... I would have never expected that from you."

"Why's that?"

"Well, joining the army is like... so unlike you. You're so meek, you're so easy going. I just cant picture you in military fatigues, holding a gun."

"Well, here." He dug around in his shoulder bag for a moment and went into one of the pockets, pulling out a picture of him with one of his old military buddies, dressed in full military fatigues, holding his assault rifle on tour. He handed it over to her and watched her study the photo.

"So, you went over seas..." She said, handing the photo back over to him.

"Yep, ten months in Afghanistan, on Operation Enduring Freedom. Got back about six months ago after I had a piece of shrapnel shoot through my right leg. I just got out of rehab about a month ago."

"You were injured?!" Helga asked quickly.

"Oh, yeah." Arnold bent over and pulled up his shorts, revealing an inch long scar along his thigh. She examined it for a minute, before she gently reached out and ran her finger along it. Arnold had to fight to quiver at her touch. She leaned back in her chair, a concerned look on her face.

"How'd you end up joining the army?"

He sighed heavily and took a long sip of his coffee. He had never told this story to anyone but a few guys in his unit when they got drunk enough to want to know. "It was two months after graduation. It all happened so fast. First, my grandparents died, and I was a wreck. But then, some one came by the boarding house, and said that they found my parents." He watched as Helga's eyes lit up with excitement. "But, they had been dead for seven years. The only way they were able to tell it was them was by the journal they had with them. They gave it to me, and I read it. I found out that my father joined the marines right out of high school, and I always knew Grandpa was in the military. So, I guess I just decided to keep it going. I ended up in the recruiters office two days later, and before I knew it, I was signing on the dotted line, and being sent off to basic." He looked up at Helga and she was studying him closely, silently asking him to continue with the pleading look in her eyes. "It seemed like the best thing to do, I mean, I had no family, most of the boarders had moved out, and..." _you were gone, _"my friends had all gone their separate ways. Gerald was moving up to Yale with Phoebe, and everyone else just kind of... moved on."

"So you made the decision to sign up alone?"

"Yeah. You made the decision to join the peace core alone, didn't you?"

"Well, yes, but I still talked about it with my sister. Did you keep in contact with anybody?"

Arnold paused as he felt himself grow cold. He took a deep breath as he thought about going through basic and advanced individual training, thinking back at all the letters people got from their parents, from their girlfriends or wives, as he sat their alone in his bunk, with nothing. "Not really."

"What about Gerald? You two were practically joined at the hip in school."

"When..." He paused to get a hold of himself. "When ever I first told him, we were at Slausen's, and I told him that I had already signed up, and that I would be leaving in a week. He... took it pretty hard. He said that I betrayed him by making a choice like that with out including him. I couldn't really blame him either. I was on leave right before I was shipped out, and I called him. Told him that no matter what, I always considered him my brother, and that if I... didn't come back," He paused as he saw her brow furrow slightly out of the corner of his eye. "that I didn't want things to end like they did. He said to call him when I got back, like he refused to let me die over there. He and Phoebe came to visit me when ever I was in rehab. Hate to admit it, but it was a bit of a tearful reunion." He said as a smirk came across his lips.

She chuckled and replied. "Well, I'm glad you made it back in one piece. You know, in a weird way, I'm kind of proud of you."

"Why's that?" Arnold said on a chuckle.

"I don't know really. I mean, I had a lot of time to think when I was in Africa. I watched people lose mothers and fathers to disease, and children lose friends to hunger, and I grew an appreciation for all of my friends who are still alive. So, hearing that you did something so bold with your life is good to hear. Although," She took a sip of her coffee. "I still can't picture you firing a gun."

"Tell that to the sharp shooter award I got in basic." He said in a boasting tone.

She laughed and leaned back in her chair. _I really should try and talk about that night with her, but I don't want to make it awkward, _he thought to himself as their conversation came to a pause. _Maybe I could just, ask her out somewhere, like to dinner or something. _He took another deep breath and readied himself. "So, uh... there's a bar just off campus, small and quiet, you wouldn't care to join me this Friday, would you?"

She looked back up at him with her brow in a straight line, studying what he had just said. "Like... a date?"

_Should it be a date? _"If you can call two friends catching up over a few beers after three years a date."

She nodded off to the side and made an accepting face. "Alright, Friday it is." She stood up, and picked up her coffee cup, with Arnold doing the same. She slipped on her backpack, and Arnold dug out his phone to check the time. "Oh, give me your number." She pointed to his phone as she dug out her own. They exchanged numbers and walked outside together. "Well, I'm this way." She pointed behind her.

"I'm that way." He pointed in the opposite direction.

"I guess I'll see you on Friday then."

"I'm looking forward to it." He said, smirking down at her. She held out her arms and he stepped forward into her embrace, and snaked his arms around her waist to pull her into his own. _I could hold her like this forever. _He couldn't help the light feeling his chest would get as he noticed that her body perfectly molded into his, how the top of her head felt like it was made to rest on his shoulder, how his arms fit nicely around her back. He drew a deep breath in through his nose, and he could still smell apples, with a faint hint of coffee. She stepped back and started walking away, with a smile and a wave as she turned around. He knew he was staring, but he couldn't force himself to turn away.

She stopped suddenly, and began to dig in her pocket again for her phone. She placed it to her ear, and she seemed to be taken over with excitement, as he noticed her bright smile from the side. He watched from a distance, trying to be inconspicuous by leaning against a tree. He watched as she talked into her receiver for a minute before he saw her twirl a strand of hair around her finger. A sudden heavy feeling overtook him as he noticed this action. _Isn't that what women do when they are being flirted with? _He narrowed his vision as she hung up her phone and slipped it back into her pocket. She brought up her thumb to her lips and began to nip at her nail. She turned around and continued her walk down the path. He let out a long, heavy sigh as he noticed a sinking feeling in himself.

He shoved off the tree, buried his hands in his denim shorts and walked to class.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Firstly, I am really flattered. I thought this would be a good idea for a story, and seeing you guys review and follow it so much is awesome! Keep them coming! **

**Disclaimer: Still not mine.**

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The week past by in a hazy blur for Arnold. His thoughts had been attacking and eating away at him since Monday. And since he only had creative writing twice a week, the second time on Friday, he had a full three days to either convince himself her phone call was a figment of his imagination, or what he dreaded, and what he was now sure of; a call from some one she was dating.

He tried, and tried over again to see it another way, but his mind just wouldn't let go of his fears. He knew he should just ask her out right. Just get it out there and be done with it, but what implications does a question like that have? He walked down the path to his creative writing class Friday morning, and thought it through, to how it would be if he did just ask her. _A question like that obviously says to her that I'm interested. But isn't that what I want? I mean, I've been interested for three years now. But what if she does have some one else? What would she say? I'd probably get the typical speech about how she really values my friendship, and how she doesn't want to lose it, and how she doesn't want to betray the guy she's with, blah blah blah. It's probably better off just left alone. After all, I do value her as a friend, and it would really suck if things got awkward because one of us feels something and the other doesn't. Well, hopefully tonight we get drunk enough to get it out and then forget about it. I wonder if she even remem..._

"Omph!"

"Oof!" Feeling himself suddenly being stopped, sent to the ground, and was lying on his back on the ground.

"Oh my god, sorry Arnold. I wasn't paying attention." Helga was leaning over him with her hand being extended downward, and an apologetic, yet warm smile on her beautiful face. He smiled up at her from his place on the ground, took her hand and hoisted himself up. A sharp pain shot through his leg, and made him grimace, clench his teeth and groan. He pressed his palm into his thigh where his scar is. "Something wrong?" She asked in a gentle voice, and placed a soothing hand on his back.

"No, I'm fine. Scar just pulls sometimes, that's all." He informed her, while straightening himself up and taking a caution limp forward. He took a look around, and saw he was just outside the door to the lecture hall. He turned to walk up the stairs and Helga was by his side in an instant.

"Do you need help getting up the stairs?"

Arnold paused and looked over at her. "Helga, I'm a veteran. I've seen combat, I think I can handle a few stairs." He said with a chuckle and a smile. They walked up the stairs and he flung the door open, holding it open for her as she passed in front of him with a smile. They began walking to the lecture hall when Helga spoke up in a somewhat cautious voice. "So, um... forgive me for asking but... how'd it happen?" Arnold looked over to her with a raised brow. "Your injury."

Arnold smirked as he stopped in front of the door to the lecture hall. "I'll tell you the whole story when we go to the Old Smoke tonight."

"So you're going to swap war stories with me now?" She asked as she set her back pack down in a seat in the first row.

"If you have any." He said as he walked up the long stairs to the middle row.

In a few short minutes, the class filled up and had begun, with the professor just getting into their first writing assignment. "Your topic will be why you chose your major. If you are undeclared, then it will be what majors you are interested in, and why. It will be at least a thousand words, due next Friday." He continued to drone on about ideas for their papers, and eventually dismissed them after two long, monotone hours. Arnold packed up his text book and notebook and headed down the stairs to find Helga waiting for him. "What time did you want to leave tonight?"

"Hmm, let's say..." Arnold crossed his arms and tapped his chin with his finger. "Eight, eight thirty maybe?"

"Sounds good to me." Helga dug her phone out of her pocket and pressed a few buttons before shoving it back into her pocket. "I would hang out but I've got to go to the adviser's office. I'll meet you at the cafe at eight fifteen?"

"I'll be sure to be punctual." He replied with a nod as he walked her outside and said their 'see you later's'.

* * *

Arnold pulled on a black T-shirt and flung his field jacket on, grabbed his keys and ran out the door. _'I'll be sure to be punctual.' What was I thinking?! I'm so going to be late. _Arnold ran outside and picked up a brisk run down the courtyard, just getting darkened by the setting sun. Once the cafe was in sight, he checked his watch and saw that he has three minutes to spare. He slowed to a walk and caught his breath quickly. Straightening out his jacket, just seeing her come around the corner in a black knee length skirt, pink t-shirt, and a pair of worn ballet flats, her hair let down, and falling past her shoulders. He felt himself seize up at the sight of her. _She's making it impossible to be a gentleman. _

"Hey Arnold!" She walked up and embraced him in a hug. Having only a moment to catch up with his run away thoughts, it took him a moment to react and return her gesture.

"Hey Helga, you look uh... good." He said, taking a step back, and motioning toward her.

She laughed and twirled from side to side slightly. "Eh, it's alright, I guess."

"So, the Old Smoke is just a few blocks from here. And since every one usually goes to that dance club on Friday nights, it shouldn't be that crowded."

The walk to the bar was made in comfortable silence, and Arnold couldn't speak for her, but having her next to him was really calming. She seemed to force him to quit being so paranoid. Once arriving at the Old Smoke, they walked inside and were hit with the scent of cigar smoke, old wood, and liquor. Arnold placed his hands on his hips and took a deep breath in through his nose. "Don't you love that smell?"

Helga laughed and walked up to the bar and sat down in one of the stools, with Arnold joining her. Arnold ordered two Sam Adams and the bartender cracked to top off two bottles and set them on the bar. Arnold took a long swig and set the bottle down, and noticed Helga had already downed half of hers. "Wow."

"Oh, come on. This is weak. I drank alcohol that would set your lungs on fire." Helga said pointing a finger at him.

"I think I'll take your word for it." Arnold lifted his bottle to his lips and took another swig.

"So you owe me a story." Helga placed an elbow on the bar and rested her cheek in her open palm.

"That I do." Arnold said after a long moment of pause.

"If... if you don't want to talk about it, it's fine." She said hesitantly.

"No, no, it's okay. I went through some therapy while I was in rehab so it's no trouble." _But just in case. _Arnold lifted his beer again and finished it off. "We were going through the desert, escorting a convey. We were stopped while one of the trucks had engine troubles in the middle of the night. I was talking with the gunner when there was an RPG coming from the ridge to our left. I heard the explosion and everybody yelling 'contact'. I dove to the other side of the truck and heard the turret start to fire. I looked to my right, to the truck in front of us, and it was upside down in flames, and..."

"Brightside?" A voice came from behind him, and it was thick with a Brooklyn accent. _It couldn't be... _Arnold turned around behind him to the short Italian, standing at about five seven, short black hair slicked back with a black dress shirt on.

"Eddie?" Arnold called from his place at the bar.

"Ah damn it, Brightside. How the hell've you been?" Arnold jumped down from his stool and embraced him in a brotherly hug. Patting each other on the back, Arnold felt a heavy wave of nostalgia hit him as the two men released each other and shook hands.

"What's up, Eddie?"

"What's up, Brightside. Hey, I heard you got a heart for what that ambush we had."

"Not like I'm proud of it, they give those away when some one stubs their toe."

"But you're out now, right?"

"Yeah, took a medical discharge and spent six months in rehab, just got out. What about you, man?"

"Got a plane back home two months ago. Old lady's had my kid while I was gone."

Arnold heard some one clear their throat from behind him, and it was only then that Arnold remembered what he was doing before Eddie showed up. "Oh, Eddie, this is Helga. Helga, this is Eddie Valentino. He was the gunner in my squab."

"Jesus, Brightside, you weren't kiddin'. She is gorgeous, that's for damn sure. Eddie Valentino, ma'am." He extended his hand toward her.

"Helga Pataki." She returned his hand shake.

"Eddie, I was just telling her how I got sent home."

"Oh, I remember that. We was driving down this road at zero dark thirty, right? The lead car has a meltdown and we're stuck here with two trucks full of food for some chair force base across the desert. So me and Brightside, here, are bull shitin' when an RPG comes screaming past our heads and hits the car behind us. I start unloading and Brightside is taking cover when I see another RPG come down and hit the lead car. So I keep unloading and Brightside here is over there dragging our Sargent out from this flamin' pile of ruble then he's off to the car behind us to help those guys out. He comes back with a guy swung across his back and plops him down next to our Sarge and starts firing up on the ledge. Here comes another RPG and it hit 'bout fifteen feet away and Brightside here gets hit in the leg." Eddie looked up to the significantly taller male standing next to him, and punched him in the shoulder. "That's what you get for being a god damn hero, Brightside."

"So, what earned him the nickname 'Brightside'?"

"Because we'd be driving down the desert, it's a hundred thirty degrees, we're all wearing full flak jackets, and I have my ass in a sling behind a fifty cal, and he'd come on the radio sayin' 'look at the bright side, at least we're all here together."

"You always were one to look on the bright side, Arnold." Helga said, turning her attention to him.

"Some one has to." He shrugged.

"You know, Ms Pataki. You couldn't have picked a better beau than Brightside." Arnold froze at Eddies statement. _What is he thinking?! _

"Uh..." Arnold started, but couldn't get the words out, and Eddie was already on a roll.

"Not many girls get to say they're datin' a damn war hero. Just be sure not to spoil his ass too much, will ya?" _Oh god! _

"Eddie! Eddie, uh, Helga and I aren't dating." Arnold threw out before it got more out of hand.

"You've got to be kiddin'! I'm surprised you ain't got a ring on her finger the way you're always blabbing on about her."

"_Eddie!_" Arnold waved his hand in front of his face with his palm facing outward, motioning for him to cease fire with an angry expression on his face.

"Jesus, Brightside, you need another beer. Hey! Three more! I'll put it on my tab. I promised you a beer when I pulled that shrapnel out anyway, didn't I?"

Arnold gave him a feigned smile and grabbed his fresh beer and downed as much as he could, before sitting back down on his stool. He hesitantly looked over to Helga, who had her lips pursed, and eye brows raised accusingly. "Eddie's, he's just uh... a little crazy."

"Crazy enough to make up a story were he says that you blab about me to everybody. So tell me... _Brightside, _what was it exactly you said that had him thinking that you and I were dating?"

"Nothing! It was nothing!" He replied too quickly. Even he could tell he was being a little too defensive. Helga simply raised one eye brow higher than the other. "You know how it is, Helga. You're on leave in New Orleans, you're at a bar and everybody's talking about their 'best nights', and they've poured enough bitter shots down you that you start to spill it. It's not my fault if he... drew conclusions. And he can speak for himself, but I'm not a war hero."

She stared him down for a minute before picking up her bottle again and taking a long swig. "I don't know, pulling two people from flaming car wrecks, sounds pretty heroic to me."

"Yeah, but we ended up losing five guys that night. There was more I could have done, but my Sargent told me to hold my position and keep pressure on the ridge to keep them from rushing us, and because I listened, not only did I have to spend six months learning how to walk again, now there are five families out there with out a brother, or a son, or a father because I didn't act fast enough." This thought had eaten away at him ever since he regained consciousness back at base with a splint on his leg. He swirled his bottle around a few times before downing the rest of it. He chuckled as he set the empty bottle down on the bar. "Sorry about the sob story, I know you didn't agree to this just to hear me complain." He looked over at her with an apologetic smile. She turned back to face the bar and spoke in a soft voice.

"The first time I witnessed some one die was during my seventh month in Africa. One of the boys, about fourteen, had wandered off too far into the jungle, and he got bitten by a Boom Slang. They are tree snakes that are considered one of the most deadly animals known to man. Their venom makes you hemorrhage from the inside out for two days, and the only antidote is available at a hospital in South Africa, so if you're bitten by one in the middle of the jungle alone, you're pretty much toast. But I had to watch helplessly as this boy laid paralyzed, blood seeping out of his eyes, his mouth, nose and ears. I've never felt so helpless in my entire life. The entire time, I was thinking 'I know there is something I can do, there has to be something I can do to save him.' But there wasn't. I just sat there and watched him die." She picked up her bottle and took a long swig before continuing. "I still have nightmares sometimes."

"I guess..." He paused as she looked over at him with a sad expression. "I guess we all have things that haunt us." He couldn't help the double meaning that came across in his statement. And part of him hoped that she picked up on it.

"Yeah, you just have to try and get over them." She finished off her beer and sat the bottle back down on the bar. Arnold released a heavy, long sigh silently to himself. _I've tried and failed with you, Helga. _


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Still very excited about the reviews I'm getting. Keep them coming! To understand part of the beginning, you will have to have watched Full Metal Jacket, (or have been in the military). **

**disclaimer: Still not mine.**

* * *

Arnold woke up in his bunk in his dorm room on Sunday morning. He had stayed in yesterday after one too many beers on Friday and slept till noon, and did home work the rest of the day, now that it was all done, he decided to do something productive. And following his physical therapists instructions, he was to run at least half a mile at least twice a week, and he was already behind. Looking at his alarm clock, it was 5:30, and looking out the window, the sky was painted a dark blue, with lingering fog drifting around the buildings. He got up and was already awake by the time he stood up. He slips on a pair of old Dickies slacks cut off at the knees, a long sleeved thermal shirt and a green sleeveless hoodie, then slipped on his running shoes. Pulling out his store brand MP3 player, he selected his Louis Armstrong playlist and headed outside. Once outside he began to stretch, and headed off.

He didn't mind running in the army. And having to do it to a cadence about Eskimo's while keeping time was something he grew used to. He started off in a brisk run, enjoying how the cool and crisp morning air would pierce his lungs as he breathed, and how the thick morning dew would cool his skin as Mac The Knife came on through his head phones. Once he was half way down the courtyard path, he picked up his speed to a full run. He rounded a corner to the long path that paralleled the one he just came down and maintained his fast pace. He just past the first bench on his left when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He looked over and saw a rather tall looking girl, hair back in a pony tail that bounced with each step she took, wearing a pair of short pink work out shorts, and a white long sleeved shirt. He smiled as he slowed his pace to stay parallel with her and smiled.

Once she looked over at him, he quickened his pace hoping she would accept his challenge. Once he had his pace set considerably faster than hers, he looked back at her with a smug grin, and she seemed to get the message. She lowered her head down and broke into a full sprint to catch up with him. He laughed to himself as he let her get ahead of him for half a minute then broke into a faster run, but not quite sprinting and quickly caught up with her. They ran until the two paths met and looked over at each other and he raised an eye brow before she grinned and started to speed ahead of him. _You have no idea what you just got yourself into, Pataki. _

He broke into a full sprint and past her as he practically jumped down the set of five stairs as he looked back to see her right on his tail. He slowed his pace slightly so she could catch up and soon she was right beside him. "Having... trouble... Pataki?" He said between breaths.

"In your dreams!" She broke into a full sprint a head of him as he caught sight of her long legs flexing with each forceful stride she took. He groaned inwardly as he shook away his less than honorable thoughts. Almost reaching the fountain, he broke into yet another full sprint and easily caught up with her and reached the edge of the fountain a few steps before she did. "You cheated!" She accused bracing herself against her knees and panting.

He placed his hands on his back and leaned back to stretch his back. "No, I hustled you. Big difference."

"You still cheated!" She said in a raised voice as she straightened up and ran her finger tips behind her ear. _If I wasn't mistaken, she just let out a bit of the old Helga. _

"I've had to outrun mortar shellings before, Helga. So beating you in a race was no problem."

"What's that suppose to mean?!" She shoved a finger into his chest.

"I don't know what it means to you, but what it says to me is that I'm faster than you." He responded with crossed arms.

"Oh yeah?" She mirrors his posture. "How about a rematch then? First one to the math department has to buy me a coffee."

"You seem pretty sure of yourself, Pataki."

"Pretty sure than I'm going to win, yes..." She started strafing to her right towards the destination they agreed upon. She narrowed her eyes at him and smirked. "Football head!" She took off into a full sprint down the patch laughing.

"Oh, you are in SO much trouble, Pataki!" He yelled as he took off after her.

* * *

"Face it, Helga, I won." He said as he opened the door to the cafe open for her.

"You did not! I won fair and square, and we have come here to claim my prize, so go up there and get me my mocha!"

He sighed heavily, feigning defeat. "You're right, Helga. You're right. I bow to the master." He bent over in front of her. "I will now and always will be slower than you, for I am but a salted slug compared to the great Helga Geraldine Pataki! I am forever humbled and privileged to have compete against you, and I am forever grateful to have been beaten so badly by one with such greatness, and _the_... Helga G. Pataki!"

"Okay! Okay! Geez, I'll pay for the coffee." She walked up to the counter as Arnold threw on a devious smile from his bent over position, having one hand across his waist, and the other straight out in a bow. She came back and handed him his Styrofoam cup.

"I told you I won."

"You did not win! I just wanted you to shut up!" She smiled behind her cup. _That's the Helga I knew. _He took a sip of his coffee, and followed her outside. She went and sat down on a bench and he followed her, sitting about a foot apart. "But... I will admit that you ALMOST beat me."

"Not a very gracious winner are you?"

"No, but I'm still the winner."

"Well, I... Helga?" He stopped and studied her sudden change of expression, as she looked past him with wide eyes. She sat down her mocha and stood up, jogging past him as he looked behind him to see what suddenly caught her attention. She ran into the arms of a guy walking down the path and the light feeling, the serenity she was providing him suddenly evaporated, as the heavy feeling of jealousy was quickly seeping into his system. She jumped into him as her legs bent behind her as he hugged her. He set her down and kissed her deeply, and Arnold felt his whole arm flex with anger. He shook it off and stood up to walk away, accepting defeat and inner heartbreak for the sake of her happiness. With his fears now confirmed in the form of a tall, dark haired man with a half beard, he turned around and calmly walked away, trying not to show his anguish too much through his posture.

"Hey Arnold!" _Oh god, please no. _"I want to introduce you to someone!"

"Id rather you didn't." He muttered under his breath. He turned around and plastered a fake lop sided grin and half lidded gaze over at the man he had not spoken to, yet he hated with ever fiber of his being at this moment in time.

"Arnold, this is Robert. Robert, this is Arnold, the guy I was telling you about." The guy whom Helga seems quite proud of extended his hand over to Arnold and smiled a smile that Arnold could tell right away was fake. He shook Robert's hand Arnold could tell that he was not happy meeting him, his arm was stiff. But Arnold couldn't say much either, he was not thrilled about meeting him either.

"Hey there, Arnold. Helga's told me a lot about you." His voice was deep, too deep. _He's trying to intimidate me by lowering his voice, and by trying to prove his strength with his stiff hand shake. _

"Wish I could say the same, but Helga hasn't mentioned you." He clasped his hands behind his back and spoke in a very smooth voice.

"Well, I feel I practically know you already, by the way Helga goes on about you. I wonder if I should be jealous." Robert faked a grin down at Helga beside him. _You have no idea, buddy. _

"No need to be jealous, Robby," _Ugh, I can't stand pet names. _"He's just a good friend." Arnold did his very best to hid the utter disappointment at Helga's declaration. He simply looked over to Robert and flashed a small smile.

"Well, I better get going, I still have a half a mile to go. If you'll excuse me. It was a pleasure meeting you, Robert." He turned around and started jogging away, tossing his more than half full cup in the trash can next to the bench he and Helga had just sat at. He broke into a fast run and rounded a corner down a path and hesitated to look over to Helga and Robert. Sure enough, their lips were locked, and Arnold broke into a full sprint, hoping his anger would seep out of himself if he ran hard enough.

* * *

It was the next Friday night, and it had been a long week for Arnold. He tried his best to avoid Helga, knowing Robert wouldn't be far behind. Deciding he needed to forget about it, he called up Eddie to see if he wanted to meet him at the Old Smoke. After agreeing upon a time, he threw his field jacket on and made his way out side. Making his way toward the Old Smoke, with a firm mind set to get plastered with Eddie, he was deep in self loathing thoughts when he was startled out of his trance by a light giggle. He looked up and Helga and Robert were making their way toward him, hand in hand. _The one time I'm trying to avoid her... _

He slumped his head downward, hoping he would go by unnoticed. They past by him, and a momentary flood of relief hit him before he heard his name being called out from behind him. _God damn it! _

"Hey Arnold, where you going?" Helga asked.

"Just... going for a walk. Going a little stir crazy in my dorm."

"Well, me and Rob were just headed downtown, you want to come with us?" Arnold glanced over at Robert, and his suspicions were confirmed. _A slight facial twitch, free arm flexing with his hand being balled up in a tight fist, before he release it, posture stiffening at the mention of having to share his time with some one else. He's emotionally insecure, very jealous, combative, and possibly capable of abuse. _

"Uh, that's alright. Three's a crowd after all." Arnold feigned yet another smile and turned to walk away.

"Okay, see you in class on Monday, Arnold." He raised a hand and waved behind him.

* * *

"Alright, Brightside, what's got you down?" Eddie said, motioning toward the bartender and sitting next to Arnold at the bar.

Arnold looked down at the folded up piece of paper sitting in front of him. He picked up his beer and took a long swig. He sighed at handed Eddie the paper. "Read this."

Eddie unfolded the paper and read the note aloud.

**FLASHBACK: **

Arnold woke up and fluttered his eye lids open, coming to star at the expensive looking light fixture in the guest room of the Lloyd mansion. He smiled brightly as the intense memories of the previous night came flooding into his mind. He rolled over to his side to reach out to pull her into him, but all he came to grasp was cold sheets. He opened his eyes again and stared across the plain of the tousled sheets, only to see just that, tousled sheets. He sat up and looked across the room, his shirt lying next to the door, his pants lying just a few feet away from it, with his boxers hanging on the corner of the dresser. He looked over to his right, where she had fallen asleep, and noticed a neatly folded paper sitting on the night stand. He stretched over to grab it, and saw his name neatly written on the outside in purple gel pen.

He opened it and began to read.

_Dear Arnold, _

_You stole my heart at first sight, so it's only fair that I take it back at the last one. I selflessly gave you my heart, hoping you would accept it, and keep it safe, and cherish it. But selfishly, I kept my feelings, and my love to myself, always letting fear dictate how I was to handle them. I know I have grown cold, and distant from everybody over the years, and I would take full responsibility of I was only to blame. I do take most of it, but blame is another thing I can not be selfish about. I gave you my heart, and you may not have seen it, you kept it in your back pocket while you went off chasing after damsels that were in tied to the tracks, even though they tied the note themselves.  
_

_I wish I could say I have been right under your nose the whole time, I wish I could say that you have just been blind, but what's the point of seeing if there's nothing there to see. You may have kept my heart, but it has grown cold, and shriveled over the lonely years. And some one as caring, and as loving as you deserved one that is undamaged, and untainted by years of self loathing and self pity. _

_You gave the loveless one chance to feel loved, the sad one chance to feel truly happy. But if I were to give in, you'd selflessly take my damaged heart, hoping to beat some sort of life back into it, but now, it's not worth it. _

_And as you read this letter, and come to the inevitable conclusion that it is being written as a good bye letter, you have every single right to feel angry, to even hate me if you have it in you. A part of me hopes that you will, but another part of me wishes that you look back on our night of sensual love making as a good thing, but no more than a one night stand. You made one of my dreams come true, Arnold. I always wanted my first time to be with you, if not you than someone as trusting and caring as you, but I could search for the rest of my life for someone that could even come close to compare to you, and still not fine them... but I have to try. _

_I could say I will always love you, I could say that I hope that I return one day, and you'd welcome me back with open arms as you always have, and we'd rush toward each other into a long lost lovers embrace never to be broken again, share deep, passionate kisses in the rain, have you propose to me in a field of daisies, and live happily ever after, but I can't do that to you. _

_I could also say that I hope I leave you with out regrets, but as I look upon you, in a deep sleep, lying next to me, bare chested, hair tousled, a soft smile playing across the lips I have devoured through the night, the scent of our sex still lingering the air, I regret leaving you, knowing you'll wake up alone in the morning, and look over to nothing more than cold sheets. _

_I could go on, and lord knows I have more than enough to say to you, but I won't waste any more of your time, and give you more time to start forgetting about me, and say this, with the words coming from both the ten year old little girl with a crush, and the eighteen year old young woman who can't let go of it, and I can't bare to ask the same of you. I will always love you, Arnold. _

_Helga  
_

* * *

"So, this is the infamous note you keep going on about, then, huh?" Eddie finished reading and handed the note back to Arnold, who had finished off his beer, and had already ordered another.

"Yeah." Arnold folded the paper back up, and slipped it into his back pocket. "But there's something else."

"What's that, Brightside?"

"She has a boyfriend." He said grimly.

"Then you need something stronger than beer. Can I get two martinis, please?" The bartender set two glasses in front of them. "Alright, Brightside, drink up." Eddie downed his and Arnold did the same.

"Something's off about this guy, Eddie. I can tell." Arnold said after he slammed down his martini.

"Of course there's something off about him. He has _your _girl. There's going to be something off about him even if he's a freakin' saint."

"No, it's not that. It was in his behavior, he's emotionally insecure."

"And what exactly do you call this?" Eddie motioned up and down to Arnold. Arnold eyed him before he slammed down the martini that was just set in front of him.

"I can tell that he has it in him to abuse her. And I swear..."

"Wow, wow, wow, take it easy, Brightside. Before you're asking me to help you mix cement, just take a deep breath and calm down. What you need is a one night stand." Eddie swung around in his bar stool, and began to survey the bar.

"Eddie, you know how I feel about meaningless sex."

"And you know how I feel about you sulking here, complaining about how your girl has a boyfriend that isn't you, and you aren't out there doing something about it."

"What am I suppose to tell her?! Hey Helga, I have a hunch that you're boyfriend is going to beat you if you stand up for yourself or spend too much time around me?"

"Don't tell me, tell her! I've heard you brag about how beautiful that girl is, how you were going to come back to the states and find her, and sweep her off her damn feet, but here you are, sitting in a bar, giving up just because some douche bag got to her before you did. Snap out of it, Arnold! You're a combat veteran! You do not give up this easily! Now, I'm leaving, and the next time you call me, I expect to see that babe on your arm." Eddie tossed a twenty down on the bar and headed for the door. "You can do it, Brightside!" He called as he strutted through the door.

Arnold looked down at the bar with a heavy sigh before he waved to the bartender. "One more."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Keep the reviews coming! I love them. And three chapters in one weekend! I'm on a freakin roll here! In this chapter I (try to) introduce some drama. (DUN DUN DUN!) haha anyway, let me know what you think! **

**Disclaimer: Still not mine.**

* * *

Arnold walked slowly into his Monday morning class, his patrol cap pulled over his eyes, his hands buried in his jacket. Dragging his feet up to an empty seat in the lecture hall, his head was pounding. He knew it was a mistake to go out drinking on a Sunday night, but at the time, and still now, it seemed like a good idea. He dropped his bag on the floor in front of a seat, and then dropped himself down into it, then rested his head in his hands. He groaned as people walked past him. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. Glancing over to the door, he saw her, giving Robert a quick kiss before walking into class. Her eyes immediately found his, but she quickly averted them and sat down in the front row.

Class came and went, and Arnold was awoken from a light sleep when someone passed by him and accidentally hit him in the head with their backpack. He shook his head, and it began to swim heavily. He squeezed his head between his hands to make it stop, and once it had, he stood up, and made his way down the steps of the lecture hall, and made his way for the door.

"Arnold?" A small voice called from behind him. He stopped and turned around to see Helga just getting up from her seat, and pulling on her back pack.

He sighed despite himself and smiled a half smile. "What's up, Helga?" His voice sounded groggy, even to his own ears.

"You look a little worse for the wear. You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just didn't get much sleep last night, that's all. No need to worry about me." He turned and started walking towards the door, hoping to leave her behind.

"Arnold," She said quickly, as he felt a hand being placed on his arm to halt his escape. He stopped as she made his way in front of him. "Is there something wrong? You know you can tell me if there is." He looked past her to the exit of the lecture hall, to see Robert standing against the wall opposite the door, his arms crossed, a some what angry scowl on his face that he probably thought Arnold didn't notice.

_I can't tell her, she probably wouldn't believe me if I did, anyway. _"Nothing you need to worry about, Helga. Just need some rest, then I'll be right as rain, I promise." He placed a gentle hand on her upper arm, along with a warm smile, and made his way past her, and out the door, feeling Roberts eyes bore into him as he went through the glass doors leading to the court yard. He took a deep breath of the fresh air to clear his system and walked down the steps and looked back through the glass doors for a moment. He saw her standing in front of Robert with a concerned look on her face, with her arms crossed, some what protectively across her chest, as she looked back at him. He flashed another (fake) smile to her and gave a slight wave, having her give one back, as he made his way down the path.

He walked into the cafe and ordered a black coffee, and waited. His cell phone began to vibrate in his pocket, and he dug it out, not bothering to check the caller ID before he answered. "Hello?"

"What's up, bro?" A deep voice spoke over the phone.

"Gerald!? What's up!" He hadn't heard from his life long friend in a few months. Last time was when he was in rehab, just getting to the point where he could walk again.

"Just called to check up on my home boy. You're not dead yet are you?"

"Ha, no, not yet. But I do have some... news."

"What, you pregnant?" He asked sarcastically.

"Yeah, Gerald, I'm due in November, and I'm naming her after you." Arnold replied.

"Well, I am flattered, but what's the real news."

"Helga's back."

"Really?!"

"Yeah, she just started at Hillwood University."

"So where has she been for the past three years?"

Arnold told him the whole story about how she went off into the peace core, and how much she has changed, and about Robert, and his suspicions about him. "You do know you have to tell her, right?"

"She'd kill me if I did, Gerald."

"Better than this guy taking a hand to her. Wouldn't you want to know a girl was cheating on you and she knew?"

"Yeah... Yeah, I guess."

"Good, so you have to tell her, Arnold."

"I will, when the time is right."

"No time like the present. And speaking of time, I have to go, Pheebs just texted me to come pick her up. I'll talk to you later bro."

"Yeah, later Gerald." He hung up as he picked up his coffee and paid for it. He walked outside, and spotted Helga and Robert walking down the path across the courtyard. She still had her arms crossed with her brow in a straight line of concern, while Robert's expression depicted that of someone who truly didn't care. He took a sip of his coffee and went off in the other direction.

* * *

Arnold sat in a dark booth in the Old Smoke on Friday night, with a cold Sam Adams open in front of him, along with his geography text book, and a note book. He took another long swig of his drink and leaned back. He would have done this at his dorm, but he needed to get away, and the Old Smoke had quickly become a place of retreat, a nice quiet place he could just come and think. He continued reading until he looked toward the entrance and saw Helga come in, with Robert in tow. He groaned, making no attempt to hide it, as he leaned forward, making himself unnoticeable in the dark corner booth.

They sat at the bar and picked up their drinks, and clacked them together in a cheers. Helga sat facing the bar while Robert was standing next to her with his elbows on the bar, facing outward. Helga seemed to excuse herself and walked off, and through the doors to the bathroom. Not a second later, Robert was looking around the bar with a hungry look in his eyes. Arnold followed his eye line to a short haired brunette conversing with her other attractive looking group of friends, and Arnold rolled his eyes in disgust. _He's dating the most beautiful woman on this planet, and he follows other girls with his tongue hanging out. What I wouldn't give to... _

"Hey Arnold, what are you doing here?" Helga said, coming to stand next to the booth. He looked up at her in surprise.

"Oh, nothing, just catching up on some homework." He looked past her and over to Robert who was making his way quickly over to her. He came to a stop next to Helga, and wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her into him, trying to make it clear that she was with him.

"Hey there, Alfred." Robert said.

Arnold simply flashed a smirk up at him. "Hey there, Roger." The feigned smile he had put on for him faded to a slight look of humiliation.

"It's Robert." Arnold closed his text book and set his notebook on top and stood up, coming a few inches away from Robert, not being the slightest bit scared by the fire Robert had burning in his eyes.

Arnold smirked again. "It's Arnold." Arnold stepped to the side and away from the couple, and picked up his books and walked out. He stood outside, quite proud of himself for how he had just handled Robert. He began walking down the sidewalk, back towards his dorm, when he heard his name being called again.

"Arnold! Hey!" Helga came running outside and Arnold turned around to be greeted by an annoyed looking Helga.

"What is it, Helga?"

"What was that about?"

"What was what about?" Arnold asked, clasping his hands behind his back calmly.

"You know damn well what. You were just a total jerk to Robert."

"If you're here to call _me _a total jerk, then you're talking to the wrong person, Helga." He turned and started walking away.

"What's that suppose to mean!?"

Arnold stopped and turned back around. "It means your boyfriend is a complete asshole and you shouldn't give him another second of your time."

"You listen up! I don't care what you think about him. He's my boyfriend, not you, Arnold! We had one night, that was it. It was just a stupid one night stand! You need to let it go!"

"Oh really? Just a stupid one night stand? Is that what you really think?" He challenged her.

"I just told you it was!" Arnold reached in his back pocket and held her note up to her.

"That's not what you said three years ago." Helga's look changed to a look of fear as she snatched the paper away from him. She skimmed it for a second before she looked back up at him. She crumpled up the paper and threw it back at him.

"What did you think was going to happen?! That I'd come back and we'd just picked up where we left off? Don't you think I know you were just looking for someone to spend the night with that night? I know I was just another pair of legs to you that night, and I was stupid enough to fall for it." She spun away from him and started to storm away.

"If that's what you think, then you really are blind!" She turned around, and he could see a tear roll down her check. Robert came out the door, and they walked away. As he watched them go, he thought that she'd look back, even for one more hateful glare, but she never did, she simply rounded the corner and was out of sight. Arnold sighed and bent down to pick up the even more crumpled paper, flattened it out against his chest, folded it back up, and slipped it back into his pocket.

* * *

The next Monday, Arnold had woken up late, and was speed walking to make it to class on time. Once the lecture hall was insight, he saw Helga, along with Robert. They seem to be in the midst of a heavy argument. Helga pointed a finger toward the doors to the lecture hall, and Robert cut the air with his hand in turn. Helga threw up her hands in surrender, and stormed into the building, while Robert pointed a finger at her, and his distant yelling could be heard. He turned around and started storming down the path towards Arnold.

Arnold had stopped and had a serious expression on his face, glaring at Robert. Once Robert met his eyes, he sneered and turned to walk in another direction. Arnold watched him until he was out of sight, and then made his way into class. He looked over at Helga as he walked in, and could tell she was trying to hide her tears. Arnold simply sighed and walked up the stairs of the lecture hall.

Class went on and Helga was out of her seat the instant the professor dismissed them. Arnold quickly tried to catch up with her, but by the time he was out on the side walk, she was too far down. He quickly took out his phone and shot her a text message.

_'Hey, I'm sorry about Friday night. You were right, I was out of line.'_ He watched her distant figure stop a few seconds after his message was sent. She looked down at her phone and then sat down on a bench, and began typing. A few seconds later, he received a reply.

_'Don't worry about it. We all say things we regret.' _

_'Will you let me buy you a coffee to make it up to you?' _

He saw her look away from her phone and pull her lower lip into her teeth, she still looked like she was crying. _'Maybe some other time, I'm kind of busy. Rain check?' _

He sighed in anger, knowing she was lying. _'Sure, no problem.' _He saw her bury her face in her hands. He forced himself to look away, before he shoved off of the tree he was hiding on, and walked in the opposite direction from her.

_I'm not sure what's worse. Knowing this was going to happen, or the fact that I let it happen. _He knew exactly what was going on, and he now knew exactly what they were fighting about. Being the insecure, and controlling bastard he is, Robert had forbid Helga to talk to him, and Helga, being Helga, said no. And once again, Helga gave into fear, and was obeying.

"I think it's time I show him how I do things."


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Really feeling excited about the reviews Im getting! And 3 chapter in one weekend. Do I rock or what?! And please, KEEP THE REVIEWS COMING! :D **

**on another note, if anyone could conjure up some cover art for me, that would be totally awesome! Message me if you are intersted in helping me out! **

**Disclaimer: Still not mine.**

* * *

Arnold sat down at his desk in his dorm room and picked up his phone, scrolling down a few names before he found the one he was looking for. He hit call and waited as the dial tone rang in his ear several times. "Mr. Horowitz's office." A female voice came through the phone.

"Hi, my name is Arnold Shortman, I'm an old friend of Eugene's, I was wondering if I could speak with him."

"One moment please." He waited on hold for only a few seconds.

"Arnold?"

"Hey Eugene! How've you been?" Arnold asked in a genuine friendly tone.

"I've been great. Got my own secretary."

"Yeah, I noticed. It seems like your doing well."

"I really am. So what do I owe this phone call?"

"I need a favor."

"Just say the word Arnold. With what you did for me back in high school, anything." During his junior year of high school, Eugene had come out of the closet as a homosexual, and he was being ruthlessly picked on by the entire student body. One day, he walked into the boys locker room, to find Eugene being cornered by Wolfgang and his thugs, and Arnold, being Arnold, stood up to them, and Eugene was forever grateful. Now, three years after graduation, he was a very successful artistic photographer, doing consulting work for magazines and opening his own studio. He had just opened his first exhibit and was very well off.

"I just need a camera."

"Is that all? I thought you needed me to shoot something for you. You know I have always wanted capture the inner turmoil of a soldier. Now what may I ask are you photographing?"

"Just doing something for a friend, that's all."

"Oh, alright, if you want to be so cloak and dagger about it, you can drop by my office any time, and I'll have Jenniffer show you in. We'll have tea."

Arnold laughed. "I'd like that. Two o'clock okay for you?"

"Perfect. See you then."

"See you then, Eugene."

The conversation ended and Arnold crossed item one off his mental agenda. Looking at the clock on the wall, he had two hours till he was due at Eugene's. It was always a dream of his to become a sort of private eye, but he just wished it wouldn't be for these reasons. _I'm doing this for Helga. _He picked up his phone again and scrolled down to his next name and pressed call.

"Why, hello there, Arnold!." The sultry female voice said.

"Hey Rhonda. How are you?"

"Getting by, but times are looking up, what can I do for you, Arnold?" A year after graduation, the economy finally caught up with her father and his Enterprise. But with Rhonda's vast knowledge of fashion, and her diva like attitude, she had gotten a job at a high end clothing shop and was an up and coming young designer, but most importantly, she was still the gossip queen of all Hillwood, and some times beyond.

"Well, I'm sure you've heard by now that Helga is back in town."

"Of course I heard, Arnold. I'm Rhonda Wellington Lloyd, I have ears all over the place."

"That's why I called. See, she's dating this guy and..."

"Robert Snyder, twenty four years old, spent the last year in the peace core, and recently returned to Hillwood."

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"His father used to work for my family, and were close friends. I met him a few times, kind of a horn dog. Why do you ask about him though?"

"He's dating Helga, and..."

"Ahh! So your still pining for her after that little romp you had in my old mansion at the graduation party."

"I'm just looking out for her, Rhonda. What else can you tell me about him?"

"Well, I'll tell you one thing, he has a serious roaming eye. He even had the audacity to hit on me a few times at the Neon Globe."

"The Neon Globe? Isn't that the dance club just a few miles from Hillwood U.?"

"Yeah, I heard him call it 'prime territory'."

"Thanks Rhonda."

"No problem, sweety."

"See you later, Rhonda."

"Don't be so scarce! Come visit me sometime!"

"Will do, Rhonda."

"See you, darling."

He hung up and wrote down the name of the club and walked out of his dorm to catch a bus down town.

* * *

It would be a lie to say that Arnold wasn't excited about tonight. He pulled his jacket on, along with his patrol cap, and picked up the case Eugene had loaned him, and walked out the door. It was a Friday night, and he knew Robert would be going out tonight, after over hearing that she was pulling an all nighter with some of her friends from her math class. She was still avoiding him, not even saying hi as she passed him in their creative writing class. He had caught her and Robert fighting one or twice in the last week, and they were becoming heated, and he was sure there were more that he wasn't a witness to.

He walked down the street, and with little effort, he heard the loud thump of techno down the street, and saw a rather long line, coming out of the club. He made himself unseen by staying on the other side of the street and staying in the shadows. He scanned the line and quickly found him. He pulled out Eugene's really expensive camera and zoomed in on him. He was standing in line with two guys, and three girls. He snapped a few photos, making sure to get his face in full focus, along with the girls dressed in skimpy mini skirts and very tight fitting belly shirts. He followed them with his view finder as they walked into the entrance of the club and out of Arnolds field of vision. He zoomed in on the entrance and smiled. "No way."

Quickly taking off his patrol cap, putting the camera back, and putting the bag in an empty trash can in an alley way, he walked straight up to the entrance of the club, passing the long line of people awaiting entrance. He walked up to the bouncer, a very bulky male that Arnold had known most of his life.

"With that shirt? Forget it pal!" He heard him say to the guy in the front of the line.

"Hey Harold!" He said coming to a stop in front of the man wearing a black hat backwards on his head, with a skin tight t-shirt saying 'Security' in bold white letters across the front.

"Arnold!" Harold pulled him into a very crushing, yet brotherly hug. "How've you been?"

"I've been good man. Hey, mind if you cut a break for a veteran?" He nodded towards the entrance of the club.

"For you? Anything! You helped me win Patty's heart, and I owe you big time." He lifted his left hand and pointed to the gold band on his ring finger.

"Wow, congratulations, Harold! I'm happy for you, man!" Arnold patting Harold's humongous shoulder.

"Thank you, Arnold. Head on in, man." There were a few shouts of protest coming from the line. "Pipe down!" Harold yelled.

"Thanks man. Hey, call me sometime and we'll get a beer."

"Anytime, Arnold!" Harold waved at him as he went into the club. He stopped just inside and looked towards the bar. Sure enough, he saw Robert, standing at the bar, his tongue down a girls throat. Arnold's fist balled into a tight fist as he made his way along the wall opposite the bar, and pulled out a disposable camera he had hidden in his pocket and hid behind a light up neon post along the wall and snapped a few pictures of Robert. _Helga's going to kill me for this, but she deserves so much better than him. And if he thinks he can use fear to keep me away from her, then he doesn't know me very well. _He thought to himself as he snapped a few more pictures. He had more than enough evidence, but he felt he still needed more. He moved his way through the crowded dance floor and walked up to the bar, between two guys dressed in silk shirts, both hitting on girls next to them. He ordered a ginger ale when asked by the bartender, and tried to listen to what Robert was saying. _Should have planted a bug on him. Geez, I feel like James Bond. _After a few minutes, the guys on either side of him had both struck out, and were now sitting quietly beside him.

"I still don't get why your keeping this girl around."

"She's fun to play with. And she was the only hot girl around when ever my parents sent me off to the peace core."

"Yeah, but now that you're back, why keep it going? There are plenty of other hot chicks you could land."

"It's nice to have something to go home to, and with that blond haired little prick she keeps hanging around with giving her grief, she always comes running back to me and I always make her forget about him."

"I still think you should dump her for something less complicated."

"I will, I'm just making sure I get all I can out of her before I kick her to the curb."

Arnold felt himself grow hot with anger. _I can't listen to this anymore. _He walked away from the bar and made his way around the edge of the wall to the door. He waved to Harold on his way out and went to reclaim his borrowed camera bag. He grabbed it out of the garbage can and unzipped the side pocket and slid his disposable inside, and made his way back to his dorm.

* * *

The next day, Arnold had spent the entire day at Eugene's, printing photos in Eugene's own personal dark room, with Eugene's help of course. And after a full six hours of learning the process, Arnold was now an experienced photo printer. He slipped the photos into a manilla file folder and slipped it into his shoulder bag and left Eugene's, promising he'd 'pose' for his next series.

It was fairly dark by the time Arnold was slowly walking back to his dorm for the night. It was about eight thirty, and the sun had long been gone, with the light from the streetlamps illuminating every other slab of concrete that made up the path. He still didn't know how he'd get Helga to meet with him, considering she had barely looked at him these past two weeks. Deciding he'd text message her in the morning, and ask her to meet him for coffee, he took a deep breath. The night was quiet, the only sounds being that of distant traffic, and with the court yard being abandon, Arnold was becoming a little jumpy. He looked down the path and saw a figure, clad in a white hoodie, quickly making their way down the path towards him. She had the hood pulled up, with her arms crossed protectively across her chest, as if bracing herself against a harsh cold winter wind, with a few strands of blonde hair leaking out of her hoodie. It was Helga.

Arnold had stopped as she continued to make her way quickly down the darkened path. She didn't seem to notice his presence, so he decided to call out to her in a soft, hesitant voice. "Helga?" She nearly jumped out of her skin as she stopped and looked up at him with a look of horror, with her hair covering half of her face. She bowed her head back down and continued around him. "Helga, wait." He stepped in front of her and placed his hands gently on her arms to halt her. She began to shake violently against his gentle grip. "Helga, it's okay, it's just me. It's Arnold." Eventually, after a few more soothing words, she calmed down, and remained stilled in his grip. "Helga, what's wrong?" He heard her whimper. He slowly reached up and pulled her hood down, but she still wouldn't meet his eyes. He narrowed his vision to the part of her face being hidden by her hair. He slowly reached up to brush her hair back behind her ear, but she flinched away at the sight of his touch. He shushed her quietly, and brushed her hair back.

He felt himself seize up with anger, feeling as if his blood was literally boiling inside his veins. His teeth clenched and ground together, with the wholes of both his arms flexing in fury. She looked up at him with her red, puffy eyes, and shrunk away from what he was sure was a dark and hateful look. He released her from his grip and let his hands fall down by his sides, just before he balled his fists into tight balls, making his fingers and knuckles crack loudly. He looked down at her shameful expression and pushed past the urge to yell, and spoke in a harsh whisper through his tightly clenched teeth.

"Where is he?"


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: So, here it is! And also, sorry but not done with the drama, will be soon though! Just keep hold of the telephone pole while I huff and puff and blow the house down X) **

**Disclaimer: Still not mine.**

* * *

"No, Arnold, wait!" Helga called as Arnold stormed past her. He was too angry to relent in his pursuit. Arnold felt her grab onto his wrist and tug and he spun around to face her. "Arnold, he was just drunk, that's all, it was the first time."

"And It's going to be the last time, too." He spoke in a dark voice seeping with warning.

"No, Arnold, please, don't do this."

"He hit you, Helga! That should be enough!" Helga shrunk away from him, and he knew he shouldn't be yelling, but she was being ridiculous at this point.

"No, just listen, I..."

"You want to know what he's really like? You want to know what he really thinks of you?" He flipped open his shoulder bag and pulled out the manilla file folder and shoved it to her. "His parents sent him into the peace corps when he crashed his fathers classic Ford Fairlane. And the only reason he's with you is because you are convenient." Helga opened the folder and slipped out the photos. He saw a few tears leak out of her eyes as she flipped through them. She looked up at him again, looking as if she was desperately seeking comfort, but too afraid to ask for it. "I've been to Afghanistan, Helga. I've broken into rape chambers, busted down doors and cleared out buildings where women are treated like cattle, where women are materialized and traded off, like they are nothing! I refuse to let that happen to you, Helga."

"Arnold, I..."

"You deserve so much more than him, Helga." He lowered his voice to a soft, soothing one just above a whisper as he slowly approached her. He gently reached up and cupped her undamaged cheek. "I know guys like him, these self entitled womanizers. He will come after you, Helga." He took out his keys and put them in her hand. "Head up to my dorm and wait for me. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"But, Arnold, I..."

"Just go, I need to know you're somewhere safe." She stared at him for a moment before looking down and nodding sadly. She turned and walked off, casting a glance behind her, and looked back at him with pleading eyes. He mouthed the words 'don't worry' and watched her open the doors to his dorm building. He turned around and walked through the courtyard toward the parking lot.

Stopping at where the parking lot started, he stopped and watched as he approached with two other men by his side. He stared him down and crossed his arms imposingly and kept his eyes on him as he staggered slightly through the some what empty parking lot. Robert finally looked up to Arnold from his place about ten feet away, and straightened up. "What do you want?" He spat in an angry tone. Arnold stayed silent for a minute, while Robert slowly started stalking up to him.

"You're life." Arnold replied in a cold voice.

Robert narrowed his vision at him and pointed a finger at him. "Are you threatening me?"

"No." Robert stopped about two feet away from where Arnold stood, and saw him clench his fist in the corner of his eye. "I'm promising you."

Robert rocked his arm back, and sent his right fist flying towards Arnolds face, but Arnold stopped it easily with his left arm. Casting a quick glance, noticing his knee was bent, Arnold pushed Robert's arm off him and sent his left fist flying toward his knee cap. Robert immediately collapsed and grabbed onto his wounded knee. The guy on the left ran towards him with his fist cocked back, but Arnold moved to the side, and grabbed onto his neck, and kicked his legs out from under him, and pushed him towards the ground. The next guy came at him but Arnold kept his body low and sent his fist flying towards his crotch. He bent over in agony and Arnold pushed him to the ground and made his way over to where Robert was still lying on the ground. He grabbed onto his collar and pulled him up.

"You come near Helga again, and I'll keep my promise." Arnold sent his right fist flying towards Robert's jaw and let go of his collar, having his head fall limply to the ground. He stood up and looked down at the two men still writhing on the ground and stepped over one and started making his way back to his dorm.

After just a few steps, he saw Helga come running towards him. She stopped just a few feet away and looked past him to the three men lying on the ground, and then down to Arnold's reddened knuckles, then back up to meet his eyes. "Arnold, you didn't..." She shook her head.

Arnold walked up to her and tried to grab onto her hands, but she pulled them away. "I'm not sorry, Helga."

"Why..." She whispered. He slowly reached up and ran his thumb along her damaged cheek, but she flinched away and hissed.

"That's why."

"You shouldn't have..."

"If I didn't he would have done the same to you, Helga. And you know that. A part of you has to know that he doesn't care about you."

"And you do?" She asked in a small voice, looking back up at him.

Arnold simply raised his eye brows and pursed his lips. Turning around and looking at the trio still writhing on the ground in agony, and crossing his arms, he looked behind him to Helga. He turned back around and looked down at the ground. "I never thought I'd have to use my hand to hand training after I got out."

"Arnold, I... I'm going to go back to my dorm. I-I'll call you."

"Helga..." He pleaded.

"I just need some time, Arnold." She said as she turned around and motioned for him not to follow her. He stood, frozen in place as he watched her walk briskly down the court yard and run her hands through her hair. He took a deep breath, looked behind him to see the two of the three men just staggering up, and made his way back to his dorm. He walked up to the door of his building and placed his hand on the bar to push it open, until he realized it was fruitless. _Helga still has my keys. _

He started off, running towards her dorm building to catch up with her. He saw her, still speed walking towards her building, and was calling out to her before he could stop himself. "Helga!" She didn't turn around, nor stop. He caught up with her and stopped next to her. "Helga," He panted once before be had a chance to react.

She grabbed onto his face and quickly crashed her lips against his. His eyes shut as his brow shot up in surprise, and lips obeyed the orders of his reptile brain and moved against hers, while his arms hung in mid air. As the passion that Arnold felt Helga exuding hit him in an electrical wave that shot through his limbs, his conscious caught up with him. _I can't do this, she's emotionally vulnerable. I can't take advantage of her like this. _Helga pushed up towards Arnold and deepened the already intense kiss. _As hard as it will be to end this. _

He placed his hands on her waist and pushed, just before a moan escaped his throat. Their lip lock broke, and like a magnet being pulled off a piece of iron, Arnold felt it very difficult to not pull her back in and devour her lips like he had that night three years ago. He kept his hands on her waist and took a deep breath to calm his pounding heart. "I'm sorry, I-"

"Helga, we can't do this." He interrupted hurriedly.

"I know, I shouldn't have assumed anything, and I..."

Arnold groaned as he tightened his grip on her waist. "No, no, no. I just... I don't want it to be... faked. You're..." He paused when he felt his shirt being scrunched in her hands against his chest. "You're in a vulnerable place right now and if we do this now... I just don't want you to regret anything."

"You want it to be real." She stated as-a-matter-of-factly.

He nodded and let go of her waist. They paused in a silence as she let go of his shirt and let her hands fall limply by her sides. Studying her expression, she seemed... almost heartbroken, and he could relate. "I'll tell you what," Helga looked back up at him with a look of question. "How bout we meet up for coffee in the morning? You look like you could use a good nights sleep."

She smiled warmly and nodded, and he smiled brightly in return. She began to walk off and, once again, he walked her go. She looked back and waved, and he raised a hand in return. His face sunk as he realized what he had forgotten. He slapped himself on the forehead and went after her again. "Helga!"

* * *

The next morning, Arnold woke up in his bunk and looked over to the alarm clock, which said 7:30. Checking his cell phone on the nightstand, he had no new text messages. So instead, he sent Helga a message asking if she still wanted to grab a coffee with him. He got up and went into the floors bathroom and showered and got dressed. He checked his phone when he come back into his dorm room and grabbed his phone, noticing he still hadn't received a reply from Helga.

He went downstairs and walked to the cafe, hoping she was already there. He still wondered if he was right to turn down Helga last night. _She needed comfort after what happened to her last night, and I kind of shut her down. I know I didn't want it to be faked, or take advantage of the situation. I have waited for her for three years, and I would give anything to relive that night, but, what would happen in the long run? She has changed a lot, but she is still the same old Helga. And that kiss last night was amazing. I just need to help her get through what ever she's going through with Robert, maybe get her to explain what happened, give her a chance to talk it through with some one. _

He opened the door to the cafe, and surveyed around the tables, hoping to see her, but he didn't spot her. He let out a sigh of disappointment and went back outside and dug his cell phone out of his pocket. He hit dial under her name and waited. "_Hi, you've reached Helga Pataki. Can't get to the phone, so get over it and leave a message!" _

"Hey Helga, it's Arnold. Just wanted to call and see if we were still on for coffee this morning. But if you still need time to think things over, than that's fine. Just call me when you're ready."

He hung up and put his phone back in his pocket.

* * *

The next day, Arnold walked into his creative writing class, still not having heard from Helga. And by the time he was sitting in the lecture hall, having to listen to professor monotone, with Helga's usual seat vacant, Arnold was beginning to get very worried that he was reliving fears that have plagued him ever since he woke up after having the best night of his life. The next assignment was being handed out, and Arnold took two to give to Helga the next time he saw her.

Class let out and Arnold decided to take action. He made his way to her dorm building and walked up the stairs to her door, to find her room mate just coming out of their room. "Excuse me, is Helga around?"

"Um, no, she isn't."

"Would you happen to know where she is?"

"No, I don't. She came back pretty late last night, but when I woke up this morning she was gone. Pretty weird since her books are all still here."

"Okay, thank you."

Arnold turned around and made his way outside, trying her cell phone again, but getting her voice mail. He let out a heavy sigh as he ran a nervous hand through his hair. _Please, Helga, not again. _


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: And yet another chapter! So glad to hear that you guys are in love with this story! Means a lot to me! **

**Disclaimer: Still not mine.**

* * *

_"Hi, you've reached Helga Pataki. Can't get to the phone, so get over it and leave a message!" _Her phone was now going straight to voice mail, and after two straight days of trying, Arnold was becoming really paranoid. He had not heard from or seen Helga since Saturday night, and his mind was flashing back to the few days after their night together where he practically killed himself pacing across the floor of his bedroom, running all around town talking to people to find any hint of where Helga was.

He walked up the stairs of her dorm and knocked on the third door on the right, and waited for a response. The short, raven haired girl answered the door, just taking off her reading glasses. "Oh, hey Arnold. Looking for Helga?"

"Hey Janet. Yeah, you seen her? I'm getting kind of worried."

"Nope, I haven't. I'm getting kind of worried too."

"Would you mind if I looked around? Maybe get a hint of where she ran off to?"

"You sure that's okay? I don't think Helga would appreciate me letting you rifle through her stuff."

"Please Janet? She got into some trouble with her ex-boyfriend and I'm just making sure she's alright."

Janet's eyes' went wide, and Arnold could see that she knew at least some of the situation revolving around Robert. She stepped to the side and waved him in. "Sure, Arnold. I do know she trusts you."

"Thanks Jan." She placed a hand on her upper arm as he went through the door, and she nodded.

He began to look around toward her side of the small room, and focused on her desk. She was an organized person to say the least. She had a few picture frames, two of her and some children from Africa huddled around her, the next of her and her sister, embracing each other, with their legs popped outward as they smiled brightly at the camera. He smiled warmly as he examined the picture, he still remembered when Helga wanted to strangle Olga. He set the photo back down, as he noticed Janet coming back to sit at her own desk on the right side of the room.

Her books were stacked neatly in the corner, and her note books were stacked next to them, with a pink felt journal sitting on the middle. _I couldn't, it's a total betrayal of Helga's trust. _But as his mind flashed back to all of the gory scenes he was witness to on tour, but replacing all the mangled and distorted faces of his unit members with Helga's. He let out a sigh, and bracing himself for a shoe to come flying towards his head, followed by Helga's foot up his rear end, and picked up her journal.

He opened it to the first page, and skimmed. Mentioning something about a wave on nostalgia hitting her as she got off the plane in Hillwood Airport. The next few pages was of how much she missed Robert, and as he skimmed the first few pages, he was becoming rather heartbroken that she hadn't written about him at all so far, but he also knew he was being selfish. _This isn't about me, this is about finding her and making sure she's okay. _He turned to the next page and skimmed it until he saw his name. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up on end as he started from the beginning.

_Typical I would be late for my first class on my first day of college. But it should be easy enough to make up for it with my hobby as a writer. The professor is like Ben Stein in Ferris Beular's day off, and as the class let out, I thought it would be like High school all over again, the rumor mill, the boring teachers, et cetra, but little did I know that it would be more like high school than I thought. _

_I know it's cliche to say 'There he was', but... there he was. With that stupid half lidded gaze, that lop sided grin of his, that shaggy hair, an old feeling came flying at me, and I didn't know what came over me when I flung my arms around him, but when he hugged me back, it was like I was ten years old again, hiding behind a trash can looking down at that locket. _

_I didn't realize how much I missed him until I saw him, but Arnold was always in the back of my mind. I know it would be a fib if I said that I didn't think of him everyday for the past few years. He always ran through my head at least once a day, but I always found myself trying to shake him out. Looking back on it know, when I heard the sadness in his voice when he had asked me where I've been for the past three years, I knew I owed him at least the cliff notes.  
_

_He was hot before, but now, he just has this edge about him. He's still very sweet, and nice, but knowing he joined the army, it gives him this dangerous edge that was never there. But I still crave that meek, loving, caring, naive man I left lying in bed three years ago.  
_

_But I can't help feel a bit responsible for his situation. Maybe I could have been there for him, but what would have happened to me when he was running off to the army? What if he didn't come back? What would I do with myself as a military widow? Especially knowing how far I would fall for him. Lord knows I'm already on a nose dive.  
_

_But I have Robert. He kept my sane this last year. But my heart is telling me that Arnold would accept and love my insanity, because I have enough of it for an insane asylum. _

_So I'm on a nose dive again, and my mind keeps flashing back to our shared night of passion, how incredible it was, how electric and simmering his naked skin felt so slick and smooth against mine... god I'm getting flustered again. And as much as I hate myself for admitting it, when ever Robert and I would have sex, I would always end up comparing it to that night, and how it never did. _

_But I can't let myself fall again. I was right when I told him he deserves someone less damaged, and some one untainted. Maybe some one like my room mate. She's nice and bubbly, maybe I should set them up. _

_Anyway, no matter what I put myself through, I don't deserve Arnold. Like I said to him before. The pleasure of a dream is that it's fantasy, if it actually happens, it was never a dream, and he always was the boy of my dreams. _

Arnold felt his heart skip a beat after he finished reading, and he cautiously cast a glance over to Janet. Yeah, she was pretty, listening to Dethklock quietly on her laptop, if Helga wasn't around, maybe he would ask her out. But, it would seem that Helga's heart was still having a battle with itself. He flipped through the pages, and the number of times he saw Robert's name diminished the further he got. Even on the day where Robert arrived, all she wrote about was how happy and at ease she felt joking around with him after their race early that morning. But after that, her writing began to become darker, sadder. She wrote about how Robert said that he didn't want her hanging around with him anymore, and how she said he was right, that she was with him, and not Arnold, about how he took her for a guilt trip, and said that he came back to town for her, and she fell for it. But after a while, she began to say that he was starting to become violent, and how much she missed Arnold.

That was the last entry, and Arnold was no closer to finding her than when he arrived. He closed her journal and set it back where it was next to her text books. He glanced over and saw that her cell phone was gone, but her charger was still plugged into the wall. _Her phone must have died some time yesterday, _he thought to himself, as he looked across her desk for further evidence.

At the very edge, opposite of her books, was a notepad, the first page being blank. He picked it up and noticed the indents of some writing on the page, indicating someone had written something on the previous page. "Hey Janet, do you have a pencil I could borrow real quick?"

"Sure." She opened her drawer and handed him a freshly sharpened pencil and he set the notepad down, and ran the pencil's edge over the blank sheet, over the groves of the blank sheet. With the page now covered with light shaded, wide rubbings of a pencil, he read what the contrast said.

_1145 3rd and huntington _

The address was heavily underlined, and it was haphazardly written. Knowing how Helga was about her handwriting, she must have been in a rush. He wrote down the address on the next sheet of the note pad and placed it in his pocket. "Think I just found something. Thanks again, Janet."

"Cool! Let me know when you find her, ask her if I can borrow her blue skirt for me?"

Arnold laughed and opened the door of the dorm. "I will if I remember."

"Thanks Arnold, see you later."

"Later Janet." He walked out of the building and ran to the library. Sitting down and opening the internet browser, he pulled out the address and typed it into the search engine. His heart sank at the image that came up. _Hillwood Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation Center? __What the hell would Helga be doing there? _He shot out of his chair and ran out of the library to catch a bus downtown.

With the long bus rise, Arnold tried to get his run away imagination to shut up, but it wouldn't stop. Everything from Helga having a drug addiction, and checking herself in, to having drunk herself senseless after his 'rejection'. He thought of so many scenarios, each one more frightening than the last, and by the time he got off at the stop nearest the address he had written down, he was ready to sprint down the street. He looked up and down the street, but couldn't spot anything as indication of which direction he should go. He looked up at the address of the building in front of him, and then ran to his right.

Coming to a stop at an old brick building, with a sign saying 'Hillwood Rehabilitation Center,' he went through the plated glass door and into the sterile white lobby, his heart expecting her to be waiting with open arms, but instead, all he found was four rows of plastic chairs bolted down to the lenolium floor, and a reception desk with a plated glass window and a speaker in the middle. He walked up and cleared his throat. "May I help you?"

"Um, yeah. I'm looking for someone."

"Name?"

"Helga Geraldine Pataki."

The rather heavy set older lady blew a bubble with her gum and looked back down at her computer screen and hit a few keys on her key board with her long finger nails. "Sorry, no one here by that name." She replied in an uninterested voice.

_Maybe she didn't come here to check herself in, maybe it was someone else. _His mind flashed back to their conversation they had three years ago on the bench near the pond at the Lloyd mansion. His eyes widened and as he looked back at the receptionist. "What about Olga Pataki?"

The receptionist looked back down at her computer screen and hit a few more keys. "There is an Olga Pataki that was admitted just a few days ago, but may I ask what your relation to this person is?"

"I'm uh..." His eyes flicked over to the visitors policy on the wall next to the reception window and looked back at the receptionist, trying for his most convincing, and most charming smile he could manage. "I'm a cousin of Olga's. I came once I heard that she was here. Helga called me and told me to meet her here to help cheer her up."

The receptionist raised her heavily make up'd eye brows and nodded. "Visitors room is down this hall, hang a left."

"Thank you." She hummed in a sassy tone and waved him off. He strutted off down the hall, his hands tossed casually in his pockets of his field jacket, and rounded the corner to the left. He let the facade fall once he was around the corner, and began to look left and right for any sigh of Helga. He came to a sign saying 'Visitors Room', and stopped. Taking a deep, calming breath, he opened the door to find several groups of people sitting, scattered around the room of round tables and chairs. In the farthest corner, he was finally able to let his gut unclench and his shoulders relax. She was sitting with her head resting in her crossed arms. Arnold walked quietly up to the table and knelt down next to the chair she occupied. She had her head lying on her side, resting against her fore arms. Gazing at her face, it looks like this was the first time she has slept in days. With heavy, dark bags under her eyes, lips some what pale, he had a debate with himself whether or not to wake her.

She let out a soft moan and readjusted her head slightly against her arm, and Arnold gave into his temptation and ran his fingers over her forehead and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. As his finger tips slid over her ear lobe, he saw her lips quiver into a slight smile, and he felt his do the same. "Helga," he whispered.

She let out another moan and he called out to her just a little louder. "Helga, it's me."

"Mmm, Arnold?" Her eye lids fluttered open, and he greeted her with a smile. She lifted her head off of her arm and rubbed her eyes with her knuckle. "Arnold? What are you doing here?"

"You weren't at the cafe on Sunday, and you weren't answering your phone. I got worried and came looking for you." He said in a soft voice.

"How'd you find me? I don't think I told anyone I was here." She asked in a groggy voice.

"You wrote down an address on the notepad in your dorm room and I was able to get it off the next page and caught a bus down here." She smiled and let out a few huffs of air that resembled laughter as she sat up and leaned back in her chair. He pulled out the chair next to him and sat down. "What are you doing here?"

"I got a call Sunday morning, saying that Olga was admitted here. Apparently, she has been suffering from a cocaine addiction for some time, and her agent thought it best to send her back home to get clean. He's the one that called me and asked me to come visit her." He saw her trying to will away the tears that he could see making their way up to her tear ducks. She sniffled and continued. "I've never seen her like this. She was always so bright, and happy... but now she's just..." She placed her elbows against the table and buried her face in her hands, trying to hide herself from her emotions.

Arnold took a deep breath, and grabbed onto her wrist, brought it down onto the table, and then wrapped her small hand in his. He looked over at her with a warm smile. "You're not in this alone, Helga. I'm here for you."

"Arnold, I don't think that I..."

"I'm not here for an answer, Helga." He interrupted her, knowing where she was going. "I'm here to help you. I know what it's like to think you're losing what little family you have left, like the whole world is turning its back on you, and I know what it's like to go through it alone. And if I can do something about it, I can't let that happen to you, Helga."

She smiled and nodded, squeezing his hand slightly in hers. "I'm not going to get rid of you, am I?"

" 'fraid not." He smirked.

She laughed fully and locked her gaze with his. "Thank you, Arnold."

"You're welcome, Helga."


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Little bit o' drama in this chapter, but I'm fairly certain you'll like how it ends. **

**ATTENTION: I may or may not raise the rating with the next chapter, still havent decided whether it's essential to the story or not, but watch the rating with the next chapter. **

**Disclaimer: Still not mine.**

* * *

Arnold leaned calmly against the wall outside the visitors center, watching through the window at Helga and Olga, with Helga grasping her older sister's, and pleading with her. After a few minutes, Olga looked over to Arnold through the window, and he saw Helga blush. Arnold smiled to himself and leaned back against the wall. Glancing through the window again, he saw Helga get up and embrace her older sister in a loving hug.

They were about the same height now, but Olga's hair was still cut short, how ever her glowing beauty had diminished. Her skin was now sickly pale, her cheek bones were more pronounced, the bones of her hands sticking out. His heart broke for Helga. She wasn't the spitting image of her older sister, but she was still beautiful, while her hair wasn't exactly what you would call combed, she didn't have a heavy coat of make up on, her clothes were a little wrinkled, and she still looked like she needed a good, long nights sleep, Arnold still couldn't force himself to look away as Helga smiled lovingly over to her sister, now making her way out the other door of the visitors center. Helga started to walk towards the door, and he looked down at the Styrofoam up he had in his hands. _This coffee better be good, _He thought to himself as she grabbed onto the knob and opened the door.

He held up the coffee once she was through the door, and she paused, perplexed. "Don't take this the wrong way, but you look like you're about to collapse. And unless you want me to carry you back to your dorm, I suggest you drink this."

She smiled and grabbed the cup from him with both hands and took a sip. "Thanks Arnold," She paused and looked down at the tile. "for everything."

"It's what I'm here for." He said with a shrug. They started walking slowly down the hall, and Arnold looked over to Helga, who had a slight far away look in her eyes and a small smile, with her eyes fixed upon the coffee cup in her hands. Arnold bumped her shoulder and she looked up at him. "What's on your mind?"

"It's uh..." a small smile played at her lips again and she shook her head. "It's nothing."

"You know, Helga, you used to be better at lying." He grinned over at her. She simply squinted her eyes over at him and puckered her lips. He shook his head as they continued walking slowly down the hall way back to the lobby. He looked over to his side again, but Helga was gone. He looked behind him, and Helga was frozen in place. A look of absolute shook set in her wide eyes. Her empty hand was trembling as he looked down to see her coffee spewed all across the linoleum floor. She began to hyperventilate slightly and Arnold was at her side in an instant.

He placed a hand gently on her back and rubbed in a circular motion, as he reached out to grab her trembling hand that was still holding onto the cup that was on the floor. "Helga, what is it?" He asked in a small voice.

"It's him..." Her voice was trembling worse than her hand. Arnold followed her wide eyes to the lobby to the tall, yet very heavy set man standing at the reception window. Arnold studied the man for a minute, but he didn't recognize him. He had dark grey hair, cut short and combed off to the side, with a dark five o'clock shadow. He wore a pale green polo T shirt, tucked in to reveal in very bulging gut. It almost looked like...

"Is that your dad?" Arnold asked in shock.

"After eight years, he has the nerve to show his face now." She whispered.

"What is he doing here?" He pulled Helga into him protectively, and she didn't move to back away from him. He looked down at Helga and she still had her wide set eyes fixed upon her imposing looking father. "You want to get out of here?"

She let out a long breath as her eyes seemed to take on a new angry expression. She shot out of his grasp and stomped angrily up to the man still standing at reception. Arnold quickly followed behind her. Her voice was thick with hatred as she stormed up to him and shoved a finger in the man's chest. "You got a lot of nerve, Bob!"

The man turned to look down at Helga with a look of surprise. "Olga?"

She turned around and threw her arms in the air with a scoff. "I shouldn't have expected you to recognize your accidental offspring after thirteen years of neglect and eight more of abandonment."

"Is that you, Helga?" Bob's deep and heavy voice echoed through the empty lobby of the clinic.

"No! It's Nancy Sinatra, and these boots are about to walk all over you." Arnold stifled a laugh at Helga's threat.

"You better watch your tongue, little lady!" Bob pointed a finger at Helga. "I came to see my daughter, where's Olga?" Bob looked past her down the hall.

"No! You have no right to see her! You gave up that right when you walked out on us. _My sister _has enough problems right now, and she doesn't need you around giving her more."

"She's my daughter!"

"You don't have a daughter!" Helga screamed. "You _left! _You gave up your right to call yourself a father a long time ago, Bob! A real father would have been there! Tell me something, Bob, where were you when Olga gave up her teaching career to become an actress? Where were you when I woke up one morning to find Mariam dead, face down on our kitchen floor? Tell me Bob! Where the HELL were you?!"

"Helga, I..."

"You're a coward, Bob." She interrupted him. "You have no right to speak to Olga. She spent the last few conscious years of her life in denial, thinking that her dear old daddy would come back and she could have her perfect little family back, and she finally cracked and realized that it was never going to happen. So you can consider this _your _fault, and as always, I have to pick up the pieces. But that isn't your daughter any more, Bob. It's my sister. Now leave."

Bob stared Helga down for a minute, but Helga remained an unshakable force, and Arnold felt very proud of her. Bob was always one of the most intimidating men he had ever met, and Helga wasn't batting an eye lash as she let her anger out at him. Bob turned and walked out, and both Helga and Arnold watched him go out onto the street and disappear from sight. Arnold looked over at Helga's still serious face, and saw a tear leak out onto her cheek. Arnold, who had let his tense shoulders deflate, looked over to the women standing next to him, and her knuckles were still white, and her own shoulders were still set in stone.

Arnold gulped, and slowly crept up behind her. He raised his hands, and placed them gently on her shoulders, but she didn't respond. He moved his thumbs in gentle circles, just above her shoulder blades, and he could feel her muscles cramping. He continued to massage her shoulders and decided to try to get her attention. "Helga?" She remained stoic. "Helga, are you alright?"

"Eight years..." He slowed his massaging to a halt and slid his hands down her slim shoulders to her upper arms. "Eight years and he finally comes back. I told myself so many times that he was dead in a ditch somewhere that it became true. But now... it's taking everything in me not to kill him myself."

"I don't mean to put idea's in your head, but I know a guy who can get us the needles of an Australian Stonefish. Excruciating, agonizing pain for four hours." She looked back at him, with a stifled smile, and he rubbed her arms up and down and she placed a hand top of his. "You uh... dropped your coffee back there. You need another one or do I have to carry you back to campus?"

"No need to throw me over your shoulder, He-man. I'm a big girl, I can make it on my own steam."

"Piggy back ride?"

"I'm fine, Arnold."

"I meant for me." He said, leaning over to look at her from the side. She chuckled and elbowed him playfully in the stomach. "You ready to head back?

"Yeah." Arnold nodded and started for the door, until he felt her grab onto his wrist, urging him to stop. "Before we go, Arnold, there's uh... something I want to tell you."

His pulse soared at the tone of her voice. "What is it, Helga?"

"This past month, I've been... fighting something but... I can't fight it anymore." She stepped into him and placed her hands flush against his chest and looked up at him with her bright blue eyes. "Can I tell you something, Arnold?"

"Anything..."

"I'd give anything to relive that night." Arnold gripped her hips and pulled her in as he let his eyes drift shut.

"You were wrong, Helga."

"What do you mean?" She asked in some what of a fearful whisper. Arnold reached behind him and pulled out her note.

"_And as you read this letter, and come to the inevitable conclusion that it is being written as a good bye letter, you have every single right to feel angry, to even hate me if you have it in you. A part of me hopes that you will, but another part of me wishes that you look back on our night of sensual love making as a good thing, but no more than a one night stand_." He recited the few lines back to her, and handed the note to her. "I was never angry at you, Helga, and that night was so, so much more that a one night stand."

"You kept this note all this time?"

He placed his hand to enclose over hers, and fold the note into it. "If I threw it away, then it would have been a good bye letter, and I have no intention of saying good bye to you, Helga." He snaked his arms around her waist and she came with out protest into him.

"Arnold?"

"Yeah?" She started her hands up a path against his chest as her eyes darted down toward his lips.

"Can we kiss now?"

"Promise not to disappear on me again?"

"Just kiss me." She demanded as she pushed against the back of his head and forced his lips onto hers and kissed him passionately. He pressed against the small of her back as she balled her fists against his hair. This wasn't the frenzied, can't get enough, ripping at each other kissing that they had shared before. But it was still as if they couldn't get enough. Each kiss deepened, first with his bottom lip being sucked into hers, then with his tongue darting out and being granted immediate access to her mouth, then to have her own tongue bat against his. With his arms wrapped fully around her back, with hers wrapped fully around his neck, they were inseparable.

Their lips locked in one more long kiss and they separated, but still clung to each other as they let their foreheads sit together. "You ready to go home now?"

"You still up to give me that piggy back ride, I'm pretty exhausted."

He sighed comically, turned around. "Hop on."


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:Super sorry for the long delay! And I am also sorry but I am posting this chapter under very special circumstances. I will post the next chapter following this one. but I URGE you to please review on both chapters. This one is a lot longer than any of the other ones simply for all that I wanted to happen in this part of the story, and it would have felt weird if I had broken it up. Also. PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT THE RATING OF THIS STORY IS OFFICIALLY NOW 'M' FOR SEXUAL CONTENT!**

* * *

His lips crashed against hers, as she pulled him to her, to have him stumble forward and pin her against her door. Her hands started to possessively roam his back as she let out a guttural moan, he felt her thighs move up his legs and was forced to press against her with his pelvis to take on her weight, as she feverishly attacked his lips. He placed his hands on her legs and pulled them up to wrap fully around his waist as he slipped the edge of her dress down her legs. She latched onto the lapels of his jacket and pulled him more into her. Blindly reaching for the door knob of her dorm, he turned the knob and it flung open against their weight as he pushed her against it as his lips sought out her neck.

She let out a groan as she pressed with her entire left side and shoved him against the wall next to the open door. He pushed it closed and felt his spine tingle as she flashed a Cheshire grin and pounced on him.

**TWELVE HOURS EARLIER: **

It was bright on Friday morning as Arnold stepped outside the door of his dorm building. Taking a deep breath through his nose, filling himself with the clean, crisp air of the campus and clearing his lungs of the odor of his dorm room, and mate who just so happens to smoke menthol. He turned and started down the path towards his Friday morning class.

After walking Helga back to her down room Wednesday afternoon, they hugged, and Arnold could still remember in vivid detail as he swayed her from side to side and she buried her face in his shoulder, then walked inside and smiled back at him. She had slept quite literally all day Thursday, and according to Janet, and sarcastically speaking, spent that long in the bathroom when she finally woke up. However disappointed to not see her all day, Arnold could only speculate that she was not a morning person, and did not want to take the chance that she would make an exception for him. Although a stupid thought to be playing around with, Arnold still debated with himself whether or not to tell Helga the he had read her journal.

He knew that she would most likely kill him if he did confess to her, if not kill, then maim beyond recognition. He did feel bad about invading her privacy, which he was sure she took very seriously, especially when Janet assured him that she trusted him, even more so when her journal didn't reveal any helpful information pertaining to where she was. He needed to make it up to her, without letting her know his reasons behind it. _Maybe I could get her something, like a gift, maybe some flowers or a small piece of jewelry. But Helga isn't at all materialistic. No, I need to do something for her. I could take her somewhere, somewhere nice… and expensive. Maybe like an official date. _He smiled to himself as his plan was set in stone in his mind.

Coming up on the lecture hall, Arnold saw Helga coming up to him, wearing tight blue jeans and a powder blue t-shirt, with her hair bouncing and flowing as she jogged up to him. He only had a moment to react before she placed her hands on his shoulders and leaned up and placed a light kiss on his lips, like she was saying hello with her lips, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. She leaned back on her heels and smiled up at him as he wore a dumbfounded expression on his face. "What was that for?"

She looked taken back as she squinted at him. "You got a problem with me kissing you now?"

"No! I love kissing you; it was just odd that's all." His brain froze as he had just realized what had slipped from his still shocked and recently kissed lips.

Her eyes sparkled and light up as her smile turned shy yet loving. "You love kissing me?"

_Here's your chance! _"Well," He placed his hands on her hips and pulled her into him casually with a half smiled tossed on his face. "Among the few people I have let kiss me, you are ranked in the top three."

She flung her arms around his neck and interlaced her fingers behind his neck. "Top three?" She feigned being insulted.

"Well, I haven't done enough… research… to accurately rank you."

She ran her fingers up his scalp, slowly leaned up and placed an open mouthed, passionate kiss on him. He felt her tongue slowly run across the roof of his mouth as his mind went blank as he felt her jump slightly as he dug his fingers into her hips. As her lips sat against his for a long moment, she let out a soft moan and released him. His eyes remained closed as he felt the muscles in his legs give out, but refused to let him fall. "So…" His eyes fluttered open to see her glaring at him. "Well?"

"Getting up there." She scoffed and walked past him and into the lecture hall. He caught up with her just as she got to the door of the hall. "Helga," She turned around and crossed her arms, staring him down. "I was actually wondering if you'd let me take you out tonight. You know, help to take your mind off of… everything." She seemed to consider his offer for a moment before nodding and letting a quip form at her lips.

"You got yourself a date."

"Great, I'll pick you up at seven." He walked past her and saw her place her back pack on her chair to take out her books. He took this opportunity to sneak behind her, ghost his fingers past her sides, and lean in to whisper in her ear. "Wear something nice."

She looked at him from the side and raised an eye brow. She paused when he let his hands fall near her waist. "Why?"

"Because I plan on taking you somewhere you normally need reservations to get into."

"You made reservations?" She asked in a happily surprised voice.

"No, but I know a guy." She sent an accusing glare his way. "Trust me! It will be great, I promise."

"Alright, you better sweep me off my feet tonight, bucko, I don't put on a dress for just anybody."

"Do you mean that literally, because I could work that in." She elbowed him and he let her go with a slight squeeze of her waist. He got to his usual seat and took out his text book, followed by his phone, along with the number Rhonda had provided him. _This better work, _he thought to himself as he made the call.

* * *

As Arnold nervously paced back and forth across his dorm, staring down the slacks and sport coat he had laid out a few hours ago as if he was interrogating them, he took a few large steps over to his desk and grabbed his phone to check the time for the third time in two minutes. He still had a good hour and a half before he was due to pick up Helga, and a better forty five minutes after that to get to the restaurant. There was a knock on his door, nearly sending Arnold out of his skin. He made his way over to his door, knowing full well who it was, and knowing that they were late. He opened the door and walked back by his bed. "Geez, Bright side, next time, would you mind putting on some pants?" Eddie said as he stepped inside and closed the door behind him.

"You're late." He said while making his way back over to his desk to check his phone again.

"Who says? You told me to be here before six, and it's not even five thirty. Now, I'm willing to lend you my car for the night, but you owe me one." Eddie said, tossing Arnold the keys.

"Yeah, I'll make it up to you. I just need tonight to go perfect."

"It's just a date, Bright side, it's not like you're proposing or… anything. You're not proposing are you?"

"What? No! I just don't want anything to go wrong." He heard Eddie sigh and saw him reach into the pocket of his jacket, to retrieve his flask. He unscrewed the top and handed it over to him. Arnold took it from him before taking a quick shot of what seemed to be Rum. He handed it back to him and ran a hand through his hair.

"Better?" Eddie asked as he slipped the flask back into his pocket.

"Yeah," Arnold replied, letting the alcohol sink into his system.

"So I heard you gave that Robert guy a pretty good beating." Arnold chuckled.

"It wasn't like that. I didn't do it out of jealousy. He hit Helga, so I hit him back."

"I heard you busted his knee cap and gave him a shiner."

"Yeah, like I said, I hit him back." Eddie laughed and slapped his friend on the shoulder. They talked for a bit longer before Eddie said he had to get going to meet his wife at the Old Smoke, leaving Arnold to get ready. He took a quick shower in the floors bathroom and got dressed in his black slacks, dark green silk shirt, and sports coat. He went back to the bathroom to style his hair, slicking it back in but leaving a few strands to fall forward. He looked at himself in the mirror, smirked and leaned back, pointing at his reflection. He shook his head at his childishness and tugged on his sports coat. He went back to his dorm room and grabbed his phone, along with Eddie's car keys, then went outside to pick up his date.

Just going up the stairs to her door, he spotted Janet making her way down, with a grin. "Hey Janet."

She looked over to him and smiled. "Hey Arnold, Helga's just finished getting dressed. And don't worry, she let me borrow her blue skirt in exchange for staying out tonight." She winked as she passed by him on the stairs, leaving him to break out in a cold sweat at when her staying out for the night meant. He cleared his throat and made his way up to her door, and knocked lightly. She opened the door in a rush, and went about scrambling across her dorm. "Um… Hi." He said, poking his head inside.

"Hey, sorry, Janet wouldn't leave me alone, and now I'm late." Arnold checked the time on his phone, seeing that it was only six forty five. Before he could tell her that she was still a bit early. She was walking up to him and turning around to have her slightly bare back face him. "Could you zip me?" She said, pointing to the back of her red dress. He gulped passed the lump in his throat and slowly reached up to the hook at the top.

"You know," he said in a low, sultry voice, while reaching down to the zipper that started just above her ass. "This is contrary to my plans for the evening." He didn't want the sight of the naked flesh to go away, but he slowly zipped up her dress nonetheless.

"You were the one who said wear something nice." She replied, using the tone that said that it was all his fault.

"Yes, and you look miraculous." He said as she turned around to face him, with his focus being drawn to the light that was shining in her eyes.

She reached up and soothed over the lapels of his sports coat, then tugging lightly on his collar, and finishing off her inspection by brushing off his shoulders. "You look rather dashing yourself."

He shrugged lightly. "I try."

Their gazes locked for a minute before Helga spoke. "I would kiss you, but I have lip gloss on, and don't want to have to reapply it." She said stepping into him.

His eyes drifted shut he snaked his arms around her, while letting out a low moan. "What flavor?" He heard her giggle and then felt her ghost her fingers across his cheek, then felt her breath on his ear.

"Apple…" She whispered. He quickly pushed her away and cleared his throat.

"Unless you want the night to end now, you will be so kind as to refrain from doing that." She let out a bark of laughter and walked past him. The drive to the restaurant was made in comfortable silence, agreeing that the destination was to remain a secret until they arrived. It took them about a half an hour to reach it, and Arnold counted himself lucky that he was driving, and was forced to keep most of his attention on the road, as Helga's dress only came up a few inches past her knees, and she was currently sitting with her legs crossed, gazing out the window.

Arnold found a parking place and got out of the car, fully intending to open the door for Helga but, she was already out by the time he was at her side of the car. "So, what's the big surprise?" She asked turning to him.

He grabbed onto her hand and led them down the side walk a bit before rounding the corner. They walked a few more feet before coming to the door of a very high end looking restaurant. The door was made of clear glass, with an intricate design on the front. Arnold opened the door for her, and ushered her inside. He paused as he watched her take in the atmosphere of the place. He came up to her side and decided to do the same. A string quartet could be heard in the distance, and the whole place was aglow with candle light. He looked over to the host's podium, and let his nervous clench drop once he saw that his plan seemed to be going off without a hitch. "Arnold, how'd you get us reservations here? This place looks amazing!"

He placed a hand on the small of her back and motioned over to the host's podium. "Like I said… I know a guy." He watched as she looked over to the podium and watched her eyes grow wide.

"Is that…"

"Yep." He interrupted her with a nod. He grabbed her hand and led her over to the podium. "Hi, reservations for Shortman."

The host looked up with a grin. "Hey there, man!" The host came around from the podium and clapped his hand together with Arnold's and brought him in for a brotherly hug. "It's good to see you."

"Good to see you too, Sid. Sorry for the short notice."

"Oh it's no trouble. Anything for a fellow Hillwood… Alum." He let his sentence fall when he caught sight of the captivating woman standing next to Arnold, with a look of slight shook on her face. Arnold saw Sid's smile turn devious. "And who might you be?" He asked her, not realizing at all who it was.

Helga simply crossed her arms and raised an eye brow. "Would you mind getting us a table, Geek bait, or do I have to do it myself?"

Sid's jaw practically hit the floor when he realized who he had just tried to hit on. "Helga?"

"The one and only," She replied, holding her head high. Arnold watched as Sid's eyes continued to rack up and down her body.

"Sid!" Sid visibly shook his head and looked over to Arnold. "The table?"

"Uh, right, the table." He looked down at the podium, and looked up to the couple. "Right this way." He said, grabbing two menus and leading them off into the restaurant. He led them to a small table, with a small bowl in the center, holding a floating candle in the center, and pulled Helga's chair out for her, earning an eye roll, but a thank you nonetheless. "The waitress will be right with you, enjoy." Sid walked off, but not before getting a fist bump from Arnold.

"How the hell did he end up a host for a fancy place like this?" Helga asked.

"He dated Rhonda in high school. She got him this job as a present, and he was surprisingly good at it. Eugene told me about it when I went over there last week."

The conversation turned into Helga asking about everyone, how not so surprised she was to hear that Harold was a bouncer, how pleased she was with Eugene's career choice, and how well off Rhonda was doing even after her father went bankrupt. They were soon sharing stories of their times in the army and the peace corps, over a bottle of wine. Then it somehow turned to what Arnold did during his time in rehab. "You've never heard of Fringe? It's only the greatest show ever put on TV!"

"Sorry, but I've been without a TV for the past three years." She said as she stabbed a piece of pasta with her fork.

"Are you busy this weekend?" He asked out of nowhere.

"No, why?"

"Because you're watching it with me this weekend, no excuses." He said, cutting a piece of meat. Helga smiled and shook her head.

Suddenly, Helga put down her fork and leaned back in her chair, wearing a sad expression, which didn't go unnoticed by Arnold, who was suddenly very worried that he had said something wrong. "Everything alright?" He asked quietly.

"Yeah, it's nothing, it's just…" She sighed heavily and then reached into her small hand bag and pulled out an all too familiar crumpled piece of paper, and set her forearms against the table and opened it. "You kept this note for three years?"

"Yeah, so?" He asked as if it was no big deal, and went back to his plate.

"Anyone else would have thrown it away, why'd you keep it?" Helga asked, reading the letter over again.

Arnold set down his fork, and leaned back in his chair. "I don't know, really. I mean, you left kind of suddenly, no explanation, or anything. So that note was all I had. I held onto it the first few days when I went looking for you, but then a few days turned into a month, and by that time, I was signing up for the military, and on a bus to basic training." He reached over and slipped the letter from her grasp and looked at it. "You have no idea how much this note means to me, Helga."

"Why, it's a goodbye note."

"I remember when I was on leave one time, and I was at a bar with a couple of other guys, and they were all talking about how they all had someone at home waiting for them, or how they were going to go out and get the girl of their dreams. All I had was this note and the hope that the girl of my dreams would find her way back." He ran his fingers past the last paragraph, the sentence that said that she would always love him, and dared himself to ask her if she still meant it.

"Arnold," She said softly, calling his attention away from the note. He looked over to her and her warm smile, as she reached into her bag once more. "I need to show you something." She pulled out a small golden object that fit into the palm of her hand. She kept it hidden under the table for a minute before bringing it up and looking at it. "There wasn't a day that went by that I didn't feel bad about how I handled things, how I just left you lying in bed with no explanation. There were nights where I sat up and scolded myself for being so cowardly, for just running off and not even saying goodbye to your face. I, uh, I did think of you just about every day, even when I was with Robert."

"Why were you with him?" He didn't mean for his simple question to come out as an accusation, but his hostile feelings toward her ex were still too raw. She looked at him with a slightly sad expression and then looked down at her lap.

"You know, I look back on it, and I don't really know. I mean, he wasn't even my type. But, I guess when you're in the middle of Africa, and a good looking guy from back home starts hitting on you, you get caught up in the moment. But, when I got back and ran into you at school, I completely forgot about Robert. I still remember when I was meeting Jan, and I had to explain to her how 'the hot blonde guy with the dangerous eyes' was not my boyfriend."

"Dangerous eyes?" He asked.

"I don't know." She shook her head at the antics of her roommate. They were silent for about a minute before her small voice reached over to him again. "Can I tell you something?"

"Anything…" He replied sweetly.

"It's kind of embarrassing so, give me a break." She sat up straighter in her chair and steeled herself. "The first time Rob and I had sex," _Oh god, I have a bad feeling about this. _"I uh… I couldn't stop saying your name."

Arnold's eyes went wide as his heart went off on erratic tempos. How exactly do you respond to something like that? "Um, is that a compliment?"

She let out a chuckle and leaned forward. "You know, I actually wrote about that night while I was in Africa. I wrote down every single detail I could remember. Everything to how lonely and crappy I was feeling before you came and sat down next to me, to how amazing it felt to finally be kissing you again, to how crappy it felt leaving you, and how I cupped your cheek and whispered an apology in your ear right before I left."

"You did that?"

She nodded solemnly, "Yeah, I did. It was even harder leaving when I woke up and we were spooning."

"We were?" He felt as if he was being told what he did after a night of very heavy drinking, being told what he had done from his friend who didn't drink as much.

Her eyes now held a faraway look as she nodded again. "Yeah," just then, the waitress came by and set the check down, telling them to get to it whenever they were ready, and Arnold grabbed it while Helga seemed to be daydreaming, he felt as if a knife was just stuck in his gut when he looked at the bottom of the check, but before he knew what was happening, the waitress was coming back and leaning down in his ear.

"I was just informed by a miss Lloyd that your check was being covered by her. She told me to tell you that she hopes your date went well to visit her sometime this weekend." A flood of relief washed over Arnold at the wondrous news of his check being covered by Rhonda. He smiled up at the waitress and nodded after thanking her and watched her walk away.

"What was that about?" Helga asked as she pointed over to the waitress.

"It was about me owing Rhonda." He said as he slipped the check into his back pocket. He stood up and offered Helga his hand, and she took it with a warm smile. Their gazes locked as he held both her hands in his, and before he could stop himself, he was being pulled in by his strong desire to kiss her again.

"Excuse me?" A voice called from behind them. Arnold snapped back to reality and looked over his shoulder to the woman holding a camera and smiling at them. "Care for a picture?"

Arnold looked over to Helga, who shrugged in agreement and stepped around him and then into his side. "I know it will be impossible, but try and get all of this woman's beauty in the shot?"

The waitress raised her brow and lifted the camera. "Someone looking to get lucky…" She said under her breath, but not under enough, as Helga seemed to hear her.

"You've no idea," She replied in a low, sultry voice.

"Alright, smile!" The woman said behind the camera. The camera flashed and the woman lowered it and studied the picture for a minute. "You two look so great together." She walked forward and turned the camera around for them to see the picture. With Arnold wearing his usual half lidded gaze, and soft smirk, and Helga showing a bright, toothy smile as she had her hand against his chest, and curling into the arm that was around her shoulders, Arnold had to admit that they did fit together pretty good. "You can pick it up at the front in a minute or two."

They thanked her and slowly walked to the front and picked up their picture, then headed outside. The sun had long since set, and the unseasonal lights that were hanging from the trees illuminated the street in bright light, and Arnold noticed from her body language that Helga was chilly, and slipped his sports coat off his shoulders and onto hers. She gazed back into his eyes and placed a hand on top of his that was lingering atop of her shoulders. "You wanna head back?" He asked softly.

She turned around and pushed up to plant a very light kiss on his lips, just barely touching, sort of teasing, that made him struggle not to yank her forward and devour her right there in the sidewalk. "Yes." She whispered with her lips just off of his.

The drive was made back in anxious silence, as Arnold drove a little bit about the speed limit to get back to campus. Once out of the car, and on the way to her dorm room, she handed his jacket back to him, and cocked her brow upward in a devilish smile and he slipped it on. Once at her door she turned around and laid both hands on his chest. "Hey Arnold?"

"Yes Helga?"

"Do you remember… when I said that I'd give anything to relive that night, three years ago?" She asked, just asking him to recall when she said it.

"I do." He said simply as her stare quickly turned dark and lustful, and felt her scrunch his shirt in her hands. A nervous shiver swept through him as her dark eyes bore into him.

"I will give you… one thing." She said darkly.

He gulped and spoke past his erratic breath. "What's that?"

"To the count of three, to shut up and make it happen." She tugged him forward slightly, and raised an eye brow. "One…" He saw her eyes grow wide as he felt his own stare grow predatory and lustful. She latched onto one of his lapels and narrowed her vision up at him. "Two…"

He launched forward, and crashed their lips together in a searing kiss that shook loose a moan from Helga when he pushed her up against her door by wanting hands that were tightly gripping her hips. After she physically couldn't pull him forward by tugging on his shirt anymore, she flung her arms around his shoulders and pressed him against her. Feeling her heel wrap around his calf, he grabbed onto her thigh and pulled it up to his waist, while her opposite leg joined it and jumped up to fully wrap around him, supported by his center pressing her into her door. Sliding the silky material of her dress down her long legs, he blindly searched for the door knob, remembering only for a second that they were still in the hall, and turned the knob to have the door slam open against their combined weight, making both of them let out a heavy grunt. His lips now sought out her neck, gently nipping at her pulse point, then smoothing it over with his tongue. He could feel her pulse race as he ran his tongue across it for the first time, as he moved his hands up her back and over her shoulders.

Before he could react, she pushed against him, turning him around and slamming him against the wall that he just had her mercilessly pinned against. He took the opportunity to fling the door shut as he looked down at Helga and saw her panting, with a very hungry looking her eyes, looking like a lion who had just been let out of its cage, as she forced herself against him, grabbing onto his lapels again and pressing him into the wall, attacking his lips with fervor as her tongue delve into his mouth. She pulled back, and pulled him along with her and brought him off the wall, and then was pushing him backwards towards her bed.

He slammed down onto her mattress, with her along with him, as her lips worked along his neck. He scrambled to get to the center of the bed and she crawled along with him until she was straddling him, lips very swollen and looking just plain sexy. He ran his hands along the thighs framing his waist, as she pressed him down into her bed with firm hands on his chest. She leaned down until she was mere inches away from his lips and whispered, "You have no idea what you got yourself into."

He chuckled and buried his hand in her tangles of hair and kissed her hard and flipped them, having her let out a yelp of surprise when their positions were suddenly being shifted. He pinned her hands above on either side of her head and whispered, "Neither do you."

She raised her brow again and Arnold felt her leg ride up his side again. "You talk a big game, think you can still keep up?"

He chuckled again. "Helga, I've been sexually frustrated for the past three years, okay, so one of us is going to wake up sore in the morning."

Her eyes widened in anticipation and he smiled and kissed her again. She pushed his coat off his shoulders and shook it off the rest of the way, sending it to the ground. She moaned into his mouth and sent him on his back again as she feverishly worked at the buttons of his dress shirt. She freed half the buttons then her lips were at his chest until his shirt was completely open and her hands were selfishly running themselves along his entire front side.

He brought her up to his lips again and leaned up and divested himself of his shirt, sending it to the floor. She framed his face with her hands and let his own roam to her back to unhook the top of her dress and slowly bring the zipper down. With her back exposed, he pressed his hand up against the naked flesh and pressed her into him. She let out a shuttering breath against his mouth as he continued to explore the naked skin with his hands.

She slipped her arms out of the dress and snaked them around his neck. He felt the dress puddle around her waist and reached around to unhook her bra, only to find her back bare. He moaned in surprise and spoke against her lips. "You weren't wearing a bra the entire night?"

She giggled right before kissing him again. "Didn't want there to be any unnecessary barriers."

He groaned as he flipped them over again, and flung her dress to the floor, latching his lips onto her breast, having her back arch into him. Her hands started to possessively roam his back, her nails scraping their way down his spine, making him shiver at her touch. As he kneaded and molded her breast unoccupied by his mouth, she called out to him softly, almost whimpering. "Arnold," she moved her hands from his back, up to his neck, and pulled him back up to her lips.

Their lips moved together sweetly, and slowly, unhurried. He heard Helga whimper slightly underneath him, as she kissed him for a long moment, before she released his lips, and cradled his jaw with her hands. "I've missed you so much, Arnold. So much…"

He gently reached up and cupped her cheek, kissed her lightly on the lips before whispering back, "I'm right here, Helga. I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere."

He heard her let out a sob, just before she kissed him again. "I'm so sorry for leaving you, Arnold."

He placed his fingers over her lips and shushed her, and then pulled back to look into her tear filled eyes. "We're here now, and that's all that matters." She smiled brightly and let out a chuckle laced with tears of joy, placed her hand on his cheek and pulled him back to her lips. They turned over and her hands now made their way down his chest, scraping her nails as she went, and then wrapped around his belt, just before he felt it slacken around his waist, then felt it being ripped from its loops on his pants, then heard it clatter to the floor. His hands couldn't seem to get enough of her, with one being buried in the soft and messy tangles of her hair, the other running its fingers down the dip of her spine.

He was too busy reviling in how soft her skin felt that he didn't notice that his pants were now unbuttoned and she was fruitlessly trying to push them down his legs. He flipped them over again and then she was finally able to push them down his legs until the only layer left between them was their underwear. In an attempt to remedy this, he kept one hand wrapped around her shoulder, supporting his weight on his forearm, while the other ran along her toned stomach and then down to her hip until he could wrap his index finger around the small cloth fabric of her underwear.

She pressed up her hips into his when he began to slide them down her legs. He quickly slid the fabric off her the rest of the way, leaving her legs hanging in the air slightly. He looked back, admiring how they seemed to stretched up to the heavens. He sat back as her legs fell back down to the bed, and took in the full view of this gorgeous woman lying naked next to him. He climbed over and positioned himself over her, and looked into her glazed over eyes, "I'll never get over how beautiful you are, Helga."

As her eyes sparkled up at him, she nodded off shyly and he chuckled. "Arnold,"

"Hmm?"

"I don't mean to sound impatient, but can you please lose the boxers, because if you want them back in one piece, you're going to have to do it yourself." He laughed and practically tossed his boxers off as they landed on the floor. He repositioned himself above her and then raised a mischievous eyebrow, as he walked his fingers down her abdomen until they were right above her core. He gently placed his two fingers against her and watched as her eye lids fluttered closed. He started by rubbing gentle, yet steady circle around her and felt that she was already quite wet. "I didn't realize you were so anxious." He whispered into her ear.

She wrapped her around his shoulders and moaned before she spoke in reply. "You're not the only one who's been sexually frustrated."

He laughed and kissed her lightly below her ear, just before he delve two fingers into her already soaked folds. She arched into him, and feeling her breast press against his bare chest, it caused him to groan as he pumped his fingers into her at a steady pace. Her breathing turned heavy as her hips moved against his hand. "Arnold…" She moaned into his ear again. "Please…"

He removed his fingers and then placed himself at her entrance, being encouraged to enter by her legs being wrapped around him. He let out a heavy breath, just before he slowly thrust forward. She gasped in surprise and dug her nails into his shoulders. Suddenly, he was back at the Lloyd mansion, in one of the many guest bedrooms, pressing her into the softness of the mattress, all the while losing himself of the complete softness of her.

Letting out a sharp exhale, she moved her hips against his, as he slowly pulled out of her, only to slowly press back in. He placed a light kiss on her shoulder and set a slow pace, each being met with a sharp inhale, her breathing matching the pace of their long overdue sexual dance.

She let out a groan and flipped them over. Her hands laid flat on his pecks, as she ground down onto him. She tossed her hair over her shoulder, and Arnold could barely contain himself at the sight of her long blonde locks flowing effortlessly over her shoulders. As she moved back and forth against his pelvis in an agonizingly slow rhythm, she felt him grab onto both his wrists and place his hands against her breasts, and moved his hands around in a circular motion. As Helga's motions got more forceful, Arnold quickly sat up, and crashed his lips against hers, keeping one hand on her breast, the other behind him, keeping him upright, she buried her hands into his hair and kept him pinned against her lips. He pressed up against her, and flipped them over again, and buried himself as far as he could into her, forcing her to wrap her arms around his neck, along with her legs being wrapped around his waist, as the pace kept speeding up rapidly.

As Arnold kept relentlessly pushing into her, her grip on his neck and his waist tightened with each thrust, as if she was holding on for dear life. He could feel her breath grow erratic, as her inner muscles began to flutter around him. "Oh Arnold, Arnold…" She said his name like a prayer, and he let out a guttural moan, as her voice squeaked slightly when he shifted the angle of his thrusts.

The feeling of their sweat slicked skin sliding together, the heavy, musky scent of their sex in the air, the taste of her skin on his tongue, the sound of her angelic voice piercing his ears as she called out his name, his senses were completely overloaded with everything that was happening, and it was too much for him to handle, and all he could focus on was how her muscles were currently wrapping and fluttering around him in a way he didn't think possible. He felt he should warn her, because he could only hold back for so long before he finally broke down. "Helga…" He struggled to call out to her.

Suddenly, he felt her muscles squeeze him, at the same time, hearing his name fall from her lips louder than it had before. He struggled to maintain a steady pace as he felt his body stiffen, and the pace go off tempo, and his steady thrust go off kilter. With a few more sloppy thrusts, he began to see flashes of color behind his eye lids. He thrust once more before he felt the barrier finally break as he spilled into her.

He let every muscle in his body relax as his breathing turned heavy. He could barely keep his weight off his elbows to keep from crushing her, so he used every single fiber he had left to push off and roll to the side. He hit the mattress with a heavy thud, and laid there, panting heavily, reveling in just how amazing it felt to finally be with her again, and just how equally amazing it felt just to have her here with him. "Helga…" He called out to her between breaths.

"Yeah…" She replied between her own heavy panting.

"I… I never got a chance before… to tell you… just how amazing you are at this."

She chuckled and rolled over to him, placing her head on his chest, and laying her arm across his abdomen. "You can tell me again in the morning."

While his arms felt like jelly, he found enough strength to raise his hand and brush a few strands of hair behind her ear, and cup her face. "So you'll be here?" He didn't mean for his voice to sound as shaky as it did, but he couldn't shake the overwhelming fear that he would relive that horrible morning of waking up alone.

She leaned up and pressed her lips to his in a long, sweet kiss. "I promise." He slid his arm around her shoulders and she laid her head back down against his chest and wrapped her leg around his, effectively wrapping herself around him as her breathing evened out, along with his own. She pressed her lips to his chest once more before whispering to him again. "I won't leave you again, Arnold."

Arnold kissed her hair and just before he felt his eye lids getting heavy. "You won't be getting away from me without a fight, Helga." He listened as her breaths came in a steady tempo, and he felt her body grow heavy against him. Taking a chance that she was asleep, he gave into temptation and said the words that he longed to say since he was sure of it. He pressed his lips into her hair again, and whispered, "I love you, Helga."

In response, she tightened her grip on him let out a soft moan, as if in acceptance to his declaration.

* * *

**A/N: Long one, huh? Personally, I am quite please with this chapter, and the next one as well. However the next chapter is less than half the length of this one. But please REVIEW ON BOTH! **


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Next installment of All the Difference in the World is up! As it appears, my internet will not be set up will next tuesday, but I will continue to write over the next week. And those of you following my other fic "All in the Waiting", I am still in the thinking phase of where I want to take the story. After rereading it over and over again, I found that it has become more about Ian and Kelly than originally intended and while I am in love with both characters, it is an Arnold and Helga fic, and I need to keep it that way. But please stay tuned. and thank you all for your continued support, your PM's asking for new chapters has meant a lot to me. Thank you all :)**

Arnold woke up lying on his side, which come to think of it, was rather odd. He always slept on his stomach. As his blurry vision came into focus, he wasn't in his dorm room. He lifted his head up to the desk, seeing a picture of two very attractive blonde women hugging, sort of looked like…

The memories of the previous night came rushing back, making his insides heat up. Taking a deep breath, and surveying the room, the only sound he could hear was that of his own breathing, and slowly, the lingering fear he had as he let sleep overtake him was welling up inside again. Just as his heartbeat started to thump harder, he heard the bed behind him creak, along with a soft moan that right away soothed him from his waking nightmare.

Just as he was about to roll onto his back, he felt a hand reach over and weave itself into his chest hair. He smiled and rolled onto his back, leaving the arm laid heavily across him. He looked over across the bed, to see her angelic face smashed into her pillow. As he gazed at her sleeping expression, she still had a slight smile playing at her lips, while her hair was still a bit disheveled. He ghost his fingers along her forearm then wrapped his hand around hers.

He rolled onto his side, facing her, and simply watched her sleep. She looked so calm, so peaceful, and so… utterly sexy. He chuckled at the thought but she did look very alluring with her hair tousled like it was, and he felt himself smiling again at realizing exactly _why _her hair was tousled. He reached over and gently ran his knuckles along her cheek. "It's about time you woke up." She spoke out of nowhere.

His eyes widened at the realization that she was awake the whole time. "You're awake?"

She popped open one eye and smiled brightly at him. "I've been awake for a while. Although, it is much better staring at this side of you than it is your back…" She sat up on her forearms and looked down at him, while running a finger down his chest. ", however sexy your back is."

"My back is sexy now?" He wrapped his arm around her back, burying his hand in her tangles of hair.

"You didn't know?" She said, raising an eye brow.

"Well, I can't really see back there, Helga. However," He moved his other hand and ran it down her shoulder, looking over her, and then his eyes coming to rest at her eyes, looking into the bright blue that was looking back at him. "I can tell you that, through extensive study, _you_ are beautiful." She smiled warmly and kissed him sweetly. As she pulled back, he gazed into her eyes, and simply smiled up at her.

Her brow furrowed after a moment. "What?"

He chuckled and cupped her cheek, and brought her back to his lips. _Kissing her will never get old. _He moaned into the kiss and sat back to look at her. "I just… I dreamed what it would be like to wake up next to you. I never dreamed it could be like this." She smiled warmly again, and kissed him again, just before laying her head down on his chest, and wrapping her arm around his stomach and hugging him.

They laid there for a few minutes, and Arnold was really enjoying simply lying in bed with her. He looked over to his side, out the window of the dorm, and noticed the warm color of morning sun light peak through the curtains. "What time is it?"

"A little after seven, I'm usually up by six, but with what happened last night, I had to get an extra forty-five minutes."

"Is that a compliment?" He said on a chuckle.

She laughed and nuzzled herself into his chest. "If you want to see it that way, then so be it, but…" She looked up at him, and placed her hand flat on his chest, and rested her chin upon it. ", I like to think it was a combined effort." He smiled brightly down at her and leaned down to kiss her, then returned to the position they were in a minute ago, and laid there for a few minutes longer. "Are you hungry?" She asked as her head shot up and her brow scrunched together.

"Come to think of it, yeah, I'm starving, actually. You?"

"Yeah, for some reason, I feel like I haven't eaten in weeks. Want to go get some breakfast?"

Arnold smiled, kissed her once more and then started to sit up. "Sure."

They got dressed, more accurately Helga got dressed with Arnold watching from his place on her bed with hungry eyes, and then he followed suit. They got down to the court yard, and realizing that Arnold only had his date clothes from last night to wear, he asked to swing by his dorm real quick to change. He came out five minutes later wearing a pair of camo cargo shorts, black t-shirt and his field jacket, apologizing that he had taken as long as he did, and then made their way to the campus' café.

Once they got some suitable food and coffee and sat down at a small table, Arnold took out his phone and opened up his messages. "Whatcha doin'?" Helga asked over a bite of her pastry.

"Sending Rhonda a text message thanking her for last night, the waitress said that she also wants me to stop by sometime this weekend. I'm just wondering why." After the text was sent, he closed his phone and set it back down on the table, only to have it vibrate right as it hit the surface. "That was fast."

He opened the text message and read it. _'I'm in a meeting now, but come by my apartment around 11, bring Helga too. There's something I need to talk to you about.' _"Hmm…" He said, closing his phone.

"What?"

"Are you doing anything at eleven? Rhonda wants to talk to us about something, what, I don't know."

"No, I'm not busy. What do you think her highness wants?"

Arnold chuckled and took a bite of his own pastry. "Not sure. She's been bugging me to visit her ever since I called her about…" His eyes widened slightly as he shut his mouth.

" 'bout what?" She asked, sounding as if she asked just out of curiosity. After he didn't answer her, she set down her coffee, and asked again. "About what, Arnold?"

He sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Do you… remember those pictures I showed you?"

She hid her pain very well at the memory of what had happened, but Arnold could tell the flash of fear and hurt that ran its way across her eyes. "Yeah." She said simply and took another sip of her coffee.

"I called Rhonda and asked her if she knew anything about him. She told me that he frequents the Neon Globe, so I followed him. If it wasn't for Harold being the bouncer, I probably wouldn't have gotten in." He said in a light tone, trying to disarm the conversation of its potential danger, but it didn't work. She simply stared blankly down at her coffee cup. Arnold sighed again and reached across the table to grab onto one of her hands. "I'm sorry, Helga. I never should have butted in, it wasn't my place, and…"

"No, Arnold, it's alright." She raised a hand and interrupted him. "The truth is, you were right. He was a complete jerk, and I already knew that, but just didn't want to believe it. When he…" She waved her hand over her cheek, "he hit me, I was breaking up with him. I was at his apartment, and he said that he was going to pick up his friends, and he would be back in a few minutes. I knew he was cheating on me, but when I tried to tell him that I wanted to break up, he accused me of cheating on him, with you actually. So he started yelling at me, and I started yelling right back, and he just snapped, I guess. Next thing I knew I was walking down the path back to my dorm, and running into you." She paused for a minute as a thick silence enveloped them, while Arnold started blaming himself of the whole situation. "You were right, Arnold."

"Right about what?"

"If you hadn't… well…"

"Kicked his ass?" Arnold replied bluntly.

She smiled shyly and nodded. "Yeah, then I have no doubt that he would have come back. So I guess, what I'm trying to say… is thank you."

He smiled lovingly over at her and squeezed her hand. "Anytime, Helga." They finished their coffees and walked out to the courtyard. Arnold and Helga stood side by side, looking around the beautiful sight of a sunny Saturday morning at Hillwood University, students sitting against trees resting, reading books, others running down the path, while a few tossed a Frisbee back and forth, Arnold looked over at Helga, who had her eyes up at the blue sky, wrapped his arm around her back, and pulled her into him. She was surprised, but came into him nonetheless, wrapping her arms around his neck and leaning into him. Arnold entwined his fingers behind her back and stared back into her eyes with his usual casual smile, thinking just how lucky he was to be able to just reach out and pull this woman into his arms.

He leaned down and placed his lips upon hers in a loving kiss. He felt butterfly's erupt up in his stomach as she returned his gesture. The first kiss broke, only to have the next deepen their contact, as Arnold moved his hands up to her sides and pulled her into him. With one last kiss, Helga buried her hands in his hair, and let out a low moan into his mouth. Their lips broke with a wet pop, and each leaned back. Arnold opened his eyes, and Helga's were still closed, her lips still out as if she was still kissing him. She bit her bottom lip and fluttered her eye lips open. She slid her hands down from his shoulders, to his chest. "That was uhmm…" She let her sentence fall flat as she looked away shyly.

"Unexpected?" He guessed.

"I was thinking more along the lines of amazing, incredible, _awesome_, words like that." She replied quietly as she laughed and buried her face into his chest to try and hide her bright smile. Arnold smiled into her hair, and wrapped his arms around her fully and hugged her.

Deciding to head back to his dorm to start their Fringe marathon before they headed off to Rhonda's, Arnold noticed that Helga was casting quick glances at his chest, and snickering. After the fourth time, Arnold finally broke and asked her. "You find something interesting with my shirt?"

She giggled once more and brought the hand that she was holding over to her and held it in both of hers. "It's nothing, really, it's just…" She let out a chuckle before continuing. "Robert shaved his chest."

Arnold stopped dead in his tracked, and had to right from bursting out laughing. "Huh?"

"Nothing, it's just when you were asleep this morning, I spent like, thirty minutes playing with your chest hair." She said cheekily, pointing a finger in his chest and moving it in a circle.

"Why on earth would I shave my chest? Why would any man shave his chest? I mean, when I was growing up, every little boy wanted hair on their chest." He said as he started walking again.

"I don't know. It bugged the hell out of me. Apparently, it was for when he was discovered by that male modeling agency." She replied sarcastically.

Arnold laughed and shook his head. "I didn't realize he was so metrosexual. Then again, the whole half beard thing kind of threw me off."

Helga scoffed, almost as in disgust, and very visibly rolled her eyes, bringing out the old Helga that Arnold knew long ago, yet still loved. "That really bugged me. I swear, sometimes he would spend more time in front of the mirror than I did."

"Well, don't take this the wrong way, but you don't have to try very hard to be pretty." She tried to hide her smile behind a failing scowl, but she ended up just pursing her lips and bumping his shoulder. They made their way up to his dorm room. Right as he walked in, Arnold dug inside the draw for the can of air spray he had hidden in the table next to the door, and sprayed most the room. "Make yourself at home." He told her as he threw off his jacket onto his bed. She sat down on his bed, looking around his dorm, while he dug underneath it for the box he was looking for. He tossed out the correct box set and the portable DVD player that was given to him and sat back on the bed.

He placed the first season disc in and pressed play as they made themselves comfortable, Arnold sitting in the corner between the walls, with Helga sitting in the cove of his body, while the DVD player sat on their legs.

Before Arnold knew what was happening, Helga was laughing hysterically at one liner's, eyes growing wide at intense parts of the story, and the next time Arnold looked at the clock, it was half past ten, and luckily, the first disc was just finishing. Arnold closed the DVD player and set it next to him on the bed. "Rhonda said to meet her at her place at eleven, and since it's not too far from here, I was thinking we could walk. After all, it's a beautiful day outside."

"Sure, maybe get some lunch on our way back?" He nodded as they jumped off his bed and made their way outside.

The walk was made mostly in silence, holding hands, discussing the show they had just watched, with Helga agreeing that it was interesting, and very funny. Soon, they were outside the main door of a high end apartment complex. "Guess this is the place." Arnold said as he opened the large door for Helga. They were stopped by a doorman in the lobby. "Oh, uhm… we're old friends of Rhonda Wellington Lloyd. We went to high school together, she should be expecting us."

"Oh yes, you must me Mr. Shortman and Ms. Pataki. Yes, she is expecting you." The doorman showed them to the elevator and told them that her place was on the third floor, fifth door on the right. They rode the elevator up, and then made their way done the hall, and knocked on the door, with gold lettering reading '3E'. The door flung open, revealing a tall, attractive, raven haired woman, wearing a red sweater and a black skirt.

"Arnold!" She sashayed up to him and hugged him, followed by a kiss on the cheek. "It's so good to see you!"

"You too, Rhonda, and you remember…"

"Helga!? Is that really you!?" Rhonda stepped back to look at her.

Helga let out a heavy sigh and let her head fall. "Why does everyone keep doing that?" She asked him. Arnold simply shrugged slightly as Helga turned her attention to the still flabbergasted Rhonda. "Yes, Princess, it's me. Helga G. Pataki, in the flesh."

"Oh my god, you're gorgeous!" Rhonda ran up to her and hugged her, and kissed her cheek, if anything, surprising Helga. "You simply _must _let me design you something for the party."

"What party?"

"What party?" They asked in unison.

Rhonda barked in laughter. "Now _that _was adorable! But that's why you're both here." Rhonda waved them into her apartment, and they both stepped in, with Arnold closing the door behind them. Rhonda's apartment was sure high end. Her furniture looked as modern as you can get, with a large picture window being the first thing you see as you walk through the door. Rhonda sat down on her white leather coach in front of her laptop and waved them over. "Come, make yourselves at home."

They both made their way around to the coach opposite her, still taking in the look of her apartment, which looked as if it were plucked out of a magazine, which, knowing Rhonda, probably was. "Nice place you got here, Rhonda." Helga said, coming to sit next to Arnold, smashing their sides together.

"Why, thank you, Helga. I do like it." Rhonda said, looking around at her furnishings. "Now, down to business, I'm planning a party for our class. You know, all the old gang, everybody from our old school. Most of them are still local, with the exception of few who went out of state for college, like Gerald and Phoebe, and Stinky."

"Hey, where is Stinky nowadays?" Arnold asked, moving his arm behind the coach behind Helga.

"From what I hear, he's an agricultural engineer. What that means, I have no idea, but he apparently makes good money doing it, and he is willing to come back into town to see everyone. Now, Phoebe is studying law at Yale, and Gerald is studying journalism and they can both come up for a weekend."

"Phoebe's coming?" Helga asked hurriedly, her eyes wide.

"Helga, dear, _everyone's _coming. But that's not why you're here. Now, I've already got Eugene on board to take pictures of the whole thing, making sure he gets at least one of everybody, agreeing to make a whole print out just for us, and put it up in his studio, and I've got the catering all set up, now all we need is a location. That's where you come in, Arnold."

"Me? Why me?" He asked, utterly confused.

"Well," Rhonda sat her laptop off to the side and leaned forward on her knees. "I was thinking about it, and this needs to be at a place that everyone knows, a place that everyone is familiar with, a place that is primo for a party, and a complete blast from the past!" Arnold dreaded what she was about to say. "I was thinking we could have it at the lovely Sunset Arms!"


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: So! Got my interwebz hooked up, and on a better note, I have chapters 12 through 18 completed. Now, I can either post them all at once, OR I can post them one chapter per day. I just want to make sure that I get reviews on ALL the chapters, so I can tell where I can move the story line around, if need be. I really would appreciate if you guys would take the time to review on every chapter, and if you will let me know what you want me to do, that would be awesome!**

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"Why did I agree to this?" He grumbled to himself as he made his way out onto the side walk.

"It's who you are, Arnold. Would you have said really said no if she gave you the opportunity?" Helga challenged as she made her way out onto the side walk next to him. Arnold simply sighed dramatically in reply. He had agreed to host Rhonda's reunion party at his old house, under heavy scrutiny from his better judgment. He could handle Rhonda's puppy dog eyes; because she wasn't the one he was dating. But when he nervously looked over to Helga for help, to get him _out _of the situation, she simply gave him the same look that Rhonda was and he cracked, agreeing to host her party in two weeks' time. "Why are you acting as if she asked you for a kidney?"

"There's just… a lot of memories back at the boarding house." He said, turning to face her, his stare down at her feet. He looked up at her and saw worry in her expression. "I don't know if I'm ready to face them just yet." He continued flatly as he turned to make his way back to the bus stop.

After taking a couple steps, he heard Helga jog to catch up to him. "Well, no one said you had to do it alone." He kept his stare down at the sidewalk. He knew she was right, and that she was being caring in offering her help to go with him. She would know what it's like to face memories of lost family. In fact, she would probably know better than most people. And if there's one person he would deem the strongest, it would be her.

He smiled softly after a minute, and held out his hand, his palm facing up towards her. He looked up to her with the same soft smile and she smiled back, placing her hand on top of his and entwining their fingers together. But his mind still wouldn't let go of what it would be like to go back there, to face all the memories, the pictures, just the whole place. That's the reason why he joined the army; to get away from the memories, the loss.

"Looks like we're going on a trip down memory lane." He said with yet another sigh.

"Are you going today?" She asked as they came to a stop at the bus stop.

He turned to her and shrugged. "Might as well get it over with, I just have to go back to my dorm to get the key." They made their way back to his dorm and Arnold dug underneath his bed to grab a small wooden box, where he kept his military medals and other mementos. He pulled out the small key ring and slipped it into his pocket. As he turned back to Helga, who was leaning against the door with a soft smile, he felt the anxiety melt away. "I can't say I'm looking forward to this. I haven't been back there since I left for the army."

"So, no one's living there?" She asked curiously.

"No, everyone had moved out when my grandparents passed. It's been empty for the past three and a half years." He said walking past her and into the hall way, turning to make his way outside again. He walked slowly giving her time to catch up to him, which eventually she did, and walked silently by his side, until they were outside.

"Arnold, if this is too much for you, then you can always call Rhonda back. I'm sure she can think of something else."

Arnold had seriously been considering that option, but from any other perspective, having a reunion party at the boarding house was a great idea, just not for him, and he couldn't let all of his old friends down just because he was too afraid to face the past. He had to suck it up and just get it over with, as hard as it might be. "No, it's alright." He smiled over at her, and she smiled back. "Come on, we'll catch a cab." They made their way out onto the main street and hailed down a cab, and hopped in, smashing their sides together. Arnold gave the driver his address and he drove off.

"Hey Arnold?" Helga asked, resting her head down on his shoulder.

"Yeah?"

"You think we can stop somewhere on the way back?" She asked softly, almost in a whisper.

"Sure, where?"

"Just somewhere I haven't been in a while, that's all." Getting the hint that she didn't really want to give anymore away than that, he simply nodded in agreement and sat in the silence of the cab, enjoying the way Helga was fiddling with his fingers that lay in her lap. Before long, the cab stopped in front of an old brick building. Arnold took a deep breath as he was paying the driver and getting out, then offering his hand to Helga as she climbed out behind him. Arnold simply stood there, looking up at his old house, feeling the heavy wave of nostalgia wash through his system, which came as an unwelcomed feeling right now. He let out a heavy sigh as flashes of memory from his child hood came with each step he took up the stairs. He dug out the key from his pocket and slowly placed it in the knob, then turned it with a push, having the door creak loudly as it turned.

Arnold stood in the thresh hold of his old home, almost afraid to walk in, until he felt Helga reach down and grab onto his hand and give it an encouraging squeeze. He took one more deep breath before stepping inside.

It was dark, very dark. All the curtains were drawn, and all the lights were turned off. He could already tell that every surface was covered in a couple thick layers of dust, with heavy cob webs hanging from the corners, and some of the light fixtures. Surveying the boarding house, and taking in its current condition, Arnold felt a heavy pang of guilt. _They left this house to me, I was supposed to take care of it, and now look at it. _

Almost robotically, he reached over to the light switch and flipped it on to turn the hall way lights on, only to have the bulb let out a loud pop, then fizzle out. He sighed heavily and ran his unoccupied hand through his hair. He took a few steps into the house and looked into the living room. The coach looked dusty and worn, along with the TV, sitting lifeless on its table, cob webs running off the sides. He reached over and turned the light switch on, only to have that bulb pop as well. "Damn it," He muttered under his breath.

He felt Helga place a hand on his shoulder then make her way past him and across the living room to the bay window. She ripped open the curtains, and began a coughing fit as the dust hit her in the face. She waved her hand in her face as her coughing calmed down. With light now streaming through the window, the living room was still painting a dark shade of grey, but as he took a longer look, he could see the pictures on the mantle. He told himself to look away, but by the time he heard his inner voice, he was at the mantle and picking up the center picture, and wiping the glass clean with his sleeve. As the dust came off, he felt his heart drop.

It was a family photo of his Grandma and Grandpa and himself. His grandpa had his hand on Arnold's shoulder, while his other arm went around his wife's shoulders. They were all smiling so brightly, he must have been nine or ten when this was taken. He could still hear his grandfather's voice greeting him home as he made his way through the door, thinking back at all the times in his later teenage years when he would return his greeting with a grunt when he had a bad day, or all the times his grandmother would make a feast based on her most recent delusion, then call him down, only to run out the door to go hang out with Gerald and the other guys.

_What I wouldn't do just to see them again. _He felt Helga's soothing hand running up and down his back as he continued to stare down at the photo. He sniffled and put the frame back on the mantle. He turned around and made his way quickly back into the hall, taking quick survey of the entire downstairs. One thing was clear, there was a lot of work to be done, and thinking about it all at once, it was very overwhelming. "You know, Arnold, I'm sure Rhonda could get a cleaning crew in here to get this place ready."

"No." He snapped at her without giving the idea time to fester. "This house is my responsibility. I don't want a cleaning crew over here digging through Grandma and Grandpa's stuff. I need to do this myself." He felt bad that his voice sounded cold and harsh, even to his own ears, and he regretted snapping at her right as the words left his mouth. He looked behind him with a sorry expression and looked at Helga, who looked slightly angry. "I'm sorry, Helga. It's just…" He failed to find the right word.

"Difficult…" She finished, and he nodded sadly. "I know what you mean." She said, taking a few steps toward him, stopping just a foot away from him. Arnold opened his arms up to her, and she stepped into them, and wrapped hers around his chest, and hugged him, as he hugged her shoulders and briefly lost himself in the smell of her hair.

"They left this house to _me, _Helga. I was supposed to take care of it after they passed. But I just… ran off, because I couldn't face the responsibility of it all. I can't help but feel like they're disappointed in me, somehow."

"Hey," Helga said softly, but sternly, as she brought her face off of his chest and leaned back to look him in the eye. "Your grandparents loved you more than anything in the world. I'm sure they are proud of you." He smiled sadly and placed his forehead gently against hers, as she moved her arms to his neck. "What do you say we get this place cleaned up?"

Arnold hesitated for a moment, before leaning back and nodding. Helga's smile brightened slightly as they silently agreed to start work on getting this place ready. They started by ripping open all the curtains, letting the bright afternoon sun in the windows. Arnold went to the kitchen for cleaning supplies, and luckily found a couple rolls of paper towels and a bottle of window cleaner under the sink. Handing one roll over to Helga, they went about wiping down every surface downstairs. As Arnold was just finishing up cleaning the window in the living room, Helga walked in and caught his eye. Her hair was back in a ponytail, she had taken off her jacket, along with her top shirt, leaving her in a white tank top, and jeans, rolled up her ankles. He turned to look at her fully, as she unrolled another couple paper towels and wrapped them around her hand, and wiped down the molding of the thresh hold of the hall way. He fought to suppress the groan he felt rising up as she bent down to reach down to the bottom of the molding. When she reached for the top, lifting her tank top up to reveal just a sliver of her stomach, she seemed to feel his eyes on her. She turned her head to cast a wondering glace at him. "You alright over there?"

He shook his head at the sound of her voice, breaking himself out of the trace she had him caught in, cleared his throat and went back to the task at hand. "Yeah, fine." He said nonchalantly, spraying more cleaner on the window then wiping it down. He focused his mind on what he was doing, and then moved to the next window. Coming up on the mantle again, he cleaned off the first picture frame, revealing his graduation photo, with him smiling politely as he shook the superintendents hand, as he handed him a blank rolled up piece of paper with a red ribbon tied around it. The next was one taken of just his grandpa and him, out on a fishing trip, Arnold being a few inches taller than his grandpa in this picture. He passed the middle picture that had already been cleaned off, and went to the next one, which just so happened to be the picture his grandpa had taken the night of prom, with Arnold wearing his tan suit and pale blue tie to match Lila's dress. He remembers being slightly down that night, he had just broken up with his girlfriend of five months, and had asked Lila to accompany him to prom, bearing the strict label of 'just friends'. "Hey Helga," He said, still holding his prom photo in his hand.

"Yeah?" She called out from across the room.

"Did you go to senior prom?" He asked as he set the picture back on the mantle.

She snorted in reply. "Of course I didn't go to prom. I spent prom night babysitting Mariam. Why?" Her light tone, coming off as amusement, threw him for a second.

"Just… just curious."

"Well, I know _you _went to prom. You took Lila, didn't you?" He was about to answer her, about to tell her that it was strictly as friends, but she cut him off before he got the chance. "Right after you broke up with Rachel, that ginger haired cheer leader, who then tried to ask Gerald to prom to get back at you, only to get shot down by him, and then settled for taking Sid." She rambled off, quickly recalling the days of pointless and often embellished high school drama.

"Helga?" He said quietly, turning around to see her wiping off the side table next to the couch a little harder than necessary.

"What? It's not my fault the gossip girls of all Hillwood High sat behind me in Economics, and wouldn't shut the hell up about other people's lives and never learned to get one themselves, while I had to sit there and hear them talk about the one decent guy I've ever met like he was just another notch in their bed posts, and how they would 'take him round the world' if they got the chance." He could hear the anger and the anguish in her voice as she continued to scrub the table off, which was well beyond clean at this point.

"Helga…" He tried once again, setting down his cleaning supplies on the coffee table and taking a few cautious steps toward her.

"I mean, Jesus Christ, those air headed bimbos would never shut up!" She hissed as she sprayed more cleaner on the table. "I had to sit there for an hour every single day and listen to them raddle off about how their parent's wouldn't let them do this, or wouldn't buy them that, and about all exploits of Hillwood High's rich and famous, while I sat there, having just cleaned up my own mother's vomit off the _fucking _stove!" She kept her teeth clenched as her voice got angrier, her body language mirroring her seething tone.

"Helga." He said firmly, placing his hands on her arms, feeling the tightness of her muscles as he gave her a gentle squeeze. He saw her drop the cleaning supplies onto the table and cross her arms, placing her forehead against her palm. He moved his hands up her arms and onto her shoulders, massaging her stressed muscles. "It was high school." He said simply.

She waved her hand in the air, and cleared her throat. "I know, it just gets to me sometimes. But I put it all behind me. Besides…" She picked her almost empty roll of paper towels and ripped off a couple more. "There are bigger problems out there than my personal problems and my resentment of other people just because their lives were a tiny bit easier than mine." She rattled off, in a tone that said to him that it was a mantra she had been telling herself for quite some time.

He was going to challenge her, tell her that it was alright to feel that her own problems mattered, that she mattered. But he instead settled for pressing his lips to her scalp and kissing her hair. She let out a slow breath, and he felt her shoulders relax. After a minute or two of letting his lips set against her scalp, absentmindedly rubbing his thumbs in slow circles, he spoke. "You didn't miss anything, you know."

She turned her head as her brow was scrunched together in curiosity. "What do you mean?"

"At prom, it was pretty boring. Lila was still broken up over her break up with Stinky that she spent the whole time sulking. I ended up leaving early and spending the rest of the night on the roof at home listening to music."

"Didn't you used to have a huge crush on her though?"

"_Had, _yes, but after a while, we became sort of like brother and sister, so it would have been really awkward. It would have been like me dating… Gerald." Finally, he saw her face light up, as laughter slowly over took her for a moment.

She turned around and snaked her arms around his neck. "I don't know, I think you two would make a pretty good couple." She said with a mischievous smile.

"Is that right?" He asked as he snaked his own arms around her. She nodded with a giggle. "Well, while I love Gerald like a brother, I think there's a certain Blondie that I'm quite partial to."

"Oh, really, why's that?" She asked, obviously fishing for compliments, if not, and then just playing along.

He thought for a minute as he saw her raise a pair of waiting eye brows up at him. "Well… she's warm. She's very funny, she's very strong, yet handles herself with mind blowing grace. She may be a bit rough around the edges at times, but… it's at those times when she amazes me the most. She makes me feel like I know her better than anyone in the world, but at the same time, never fails to surprise me. And while she may think that I don't notice the little things, like the way she always has this certain faraway look in her eyes after every time we kiss, or the pointed look that she gives me when I open doors for her, or how when I buy her coffee, she only takes it with her left hand if she's upset about something, or how she only puts her hands in her pockets when she's nervous about something, I like to think that she gives me a little bit of slack when I slip up and do something stupid."

He noticed to twinkle in her eyes, and it was a moment before she spoke. "You make this Blondie sound like the best thing in the world but… something tells me she would object."

"I'm sure she would, and then I would pull her in, brush her hair behind her ear," He reached up and traced her outer ear, replacing a few strands of hair, "then take her cheek in my hand," He settled his palm over her slightly flushed cheek, "And say 'let me prove it to you'."

She seemed to be paralyzed as he pulled her in, her eyes drifting shut before his as he pulled her lips to his in a soft, passionate kiss. The kiss deepened as she weaved her arms around his shoulders, holding him to her in a stronger embrace. He moved his hands to her back and pushed her into him, smashing their entire fronts together, then snaked his arms fully around her, hugging her slim midsection. They kissed once more, and he felt her move her hand through his hair then down to his jaw. He moved his hands up her back then across her shoulder blades.

With a moan, he spun them around, and fell down onto the couch, pulling her down with him, as she moved to straddle him, cradling his jaw with her hands as his found purchase on her sides. She ran her hands down from his jaw to his neck, as she kept on devouring his lips with fervor, then stopped until her hands were on his pecks, then let his now swollen lips go, slightly tugging on his bottom lip as she pulled away. She looked down at him with a soft expression and reached up to brush a few out of place strands of hair that she had tousled. "Do I really put my hands in my pockets when I'm nervous?"

"Yes… and it's adorable" She shook her head with a smile spitting her face apart as she leaned down to capture his lips again.

To think, last time he sat on this couch was when he was reading his late father's journal, drowning himself in sorrow and grief. Now, three and a half years later, sitting in the exact same spot, while being straddled, he was now drowning in Helga Pataki, with no intention of fighting for air.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Correction: I have chapters 12 through 18 done, and I'm pretty sure I know how and when I want this fic to end, but I don't know how long it's going to be, I'm guessing 25 maybe 27 chapters. I also have a sequel planned if all goes according to plan. So, please let me know what you think as the story unravels.**

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The week went by, remaining mostly uneventful. After their slightly heated make out session on Arnold's old couch, they returned to campus, and spent the rest of the weekend curled up on his bed continuing their agreed upon Fringe marathon. They had woken up together after unintentionally falling asleep in each other's embrace and went for an early morning jog, then went to class together, but unfortunately, their long weekend spent hardly out of each other's sight would be met with almost a whole week spent apart. Coming up on Friday morning, and not having seen Helga since the end of class on Monday, Arnold was eagerly awaiting the time to roll around when she would come running up to him and place a light kiss on his lips.

They still had a lot of work to do back at the boarding house. They managed to finish the down stairs before leaving, but they still had to do the entire upstairs, including his room, where he was sure he would get sucked into going through all of his old stuff, recalling stories and memories from his childhood. The thought of him and Helga curled up on his old bed, or his old couch, in his old room warmed him and gave his heart a weightless feeling.

He took a passing glance at the clock and saw that it was early enough where he could leave and not be too early for class. He grabbed his backpack off the floor, stuffed his text book into it and then headed out the door. Swinging by the café on his way, picking them up a pair of coffees, he headed off to class, still feeling slightly giddy about seeing Helga after a long week apart. A part of him wanted to shutter at the thought that he was feeling giddy, but he wanted to see her too badly. He stopped outside the lecture hall, and noticed that she hasn't arrived yet, so he settled on sitting on the side of the steps, out of the way of people making their way in and out, and set the coffees down on the steps between his feet.

She came walking up, hair back in a low ponytail, wearing a grey hoodie with Hillwood University written across the front, her attention down on her cell phone, with a slight furrow in her brow, one hand buried in her pocket. This worried him, and sent his protective side into over drive. He stood up with their coffees in hand and called out to her. "Hey Helga," She looked up from her phone and gave a side smile.

"Hey Arnold," He held the coffee out to her and she took it, taking her hand out of her pocket, to grab it with a thank you. After a double take, she was holding her coffee in her left hand. Something was wrong.

She stepped up to him and kissed him briefly. She leaned back and licked her lips. "Mmm, you taste like coffee." She said as she leaned in once more to kiss him again. She stepped back and looked down at her phone, just before she let out a small sigh, and shut it, shoving it into her pocket.

"Everything okay?" He asked as he stepped up to her.

She looked up to him and nodded solemnly. "Yeah, it's nothing." She replied, smiling up at him as she clenched her free hand in his shirt.

"You sure?" He tried again, bringing his hands up to lie gently on her hips.

"Yes, I'm fine, why?"

He looked down between them to the coffee he had bought for her, and tapped his finger against the plastic lid. "Left hand." He said simply. He saw her eyes widen slightly, in conformation of his belief that she did, in fact, grab her coffee with her left hand when she was upset about something.

She let out a sigh, and looked down between them. "It's… it's Robert."

"What about him?" He asked in a low tone, edged with warning.

"It's nothing, he just… he says he has some of my stuff and he wants me to come pick it up today."

"Want me to do it?" He offered.

She shook her head, "No, I can do it myself." There was a moment of thick pause between them where his worry only grew for her. "But thank you. I know he's not your favorite person."

"I didn't realize it was that obvious." He said sarcastically. "I'll tell you what, after you get out of Algebra this afternoon, why don't you meet me at the café. Then you can go over there, and then meet me at the boarding house, and we can spend the night on the roof."

She looked up at him with a warm expression etched on her face as she nodded. "I'd like that." He leaned down to quickly capture her lips, and then made their way into class.

Class went on, rather dully, and before long, class was let out, and they met up outside, kissed farewell, and went in opposite directions to their next class. Once she was out of sight, Arnold let the façade of being alright with her being left alone with her abusive ex fall as his expression hardened into a seriousness that made him feel a bit stronger. He looked at his phone for the time, and saw that he had a good two and a half hours till his next class, giving him plenty of time to do what he needed to do.

He knew Helga would kill him if he went and found Robert again. If not, then he would probably end up being arrested. So, he conceded to something that Eddie told him he did for his wife. Arnold still shuttered at the story of Eddie's wife being mugged during his first tour overseas. But that story had stuck with him. He caught a bus to the nearest mall, and walked into the one store he knew would sell the item he was looking for. As he scanned the shelves, he quickly found what he was looking for. Grabbing the pink, he set his purchase down on the counter in front of the register, with the cashier asking for his ID, he rolled his eyes, showing his license, along with his veteran ID, and then set a twenty down along with it. He picked up his change, and then headed back to campus.

It was now three forty five, and Arnold was waiting patiently at the café, leaning against the wall that the table was up against, foot propped up on one knee. He saw her walk in with a small smile, and he got up to greet her with a kiss as they sat down. "So, any particular reason why you wanted to meet here first?"

He nodded slowly, as he dug into his pocket for the small plastic bag and set it on the table between them. "I got you something."

She took the bag, with a cautious smile, and looked inside and stopped. She dug out the item and examined the label. "A pepper spray key chain?" She held it out to her side. He simply nodded in reply. "What's this for?"

"Just in case…" He muttered.

"In case of what?" He raised his brow in question. "Arnold, he's not going to do anything. I'm just going to go over there, get my stuff, and leave."

"I know, I know, I just…" He said quickly, trying to defend his actions. "I just need to know that you're safe, Helga."

"Don't you think you're being a little over protective?" She asked in a small voice.

He looked down at the table, feeling a bit ashamed before his mind replayed the image of her bruised cheek staining her fearful face, still remembering the look of utter horror in her eyes that night. "Helga," He reached out and grabbed onto her hands, and she gave them willingly. "I just… if anything ever happened to you, I don't think I could ever get over it." He paused as her look of concern deepened. "Losing you once was more than enough."

She gave him a watery smile and looked down at their joined hands on top of the table. "Okay," She mumbled. "I'll take the pepper spray." He felt a flood of relief hit him at her agreement. She broke lose one hand and held up to pepper spray. "I do like the pink."

He smiled and started rubbing gentle circles over her knuckles. "I thought you might." They stood up, and walked out the door, still hand in hand. He stopped them just outside the door and took both her hands. "So we still on for tonight?"

"Of course we are." She said as she moved her hands behind his neck and interlaced her fingers together, leaving him to interlace his own fingers against the small of his back.

"If you need anything, I'm just a phone call away." He reminded her in a low tone.

"Speed dial number one." She replied with a smile.

"Ooo, number one? You sure know how make a guy feel special." He joked with a smirk.

"Don't flatter yourself, you're the only person I ever call."

"Right," He sarcastically agreed as he pulled her into him for a hug. As they stood there, wrapped in each other's arms, he buried his nose in her hair and smiled brightly. As hard as he tried, he couldn't recall a time when he was happier. Thinking about this fact, he smiled brightly into her hair, and tightened his grip on her midsection. They shared their state of bliss for a few more moments before Helga leaned back, and let out a heavy sigh.

"Might as well get this over with, I'll meet you at the boarding house when I'm done."

"Okay, see you then." She pressed up and kissed him good bye, then stepped away, dragging her hand down his arm as she started to walk away, only to get her wrist caught by him, with a quick retort, "One more," he almost whined as he pulled her back into him. She giggled as she let him pull her back into him, and into a long sweet kiss.

She leaned back and raised a brow. "For luck?"

"If you say so," He said in a husky voice as he pulled her in once more. She giggled into the kiss as she gave in for just a split second before pushing against his chest for a moment.

"We'll continue this later, okay?" She said in a slightly breathless voice. He opened his mouth to challenge her, but she cut him off. "Okay?" She said again in a much firmer voice. He nodded solemnly and let her step out of his embrace with a devious smile. As he watched her saunter away, she looked back with a gleam in her eyes, and he felt… in love.

He watched her walk away until she rounded a corner and was out of sight. He sighed despite himself as he turned to catch a cab back to the boarding house, when something caught his eye, rather… someone. Standing near a bench, clad in a pale green polo, khakis, and a pair of cop sunglasses, was a very tall, heavy set man looking directly at him. He felt his protectiveness rise up in him again at the quick realization of who it was, until he felt a hard bump against his shoulder by a passerby, running down the path, saying a quick apology before they continued down the path. He looked back to where the man was standing and he was gone. He looked down the path both ways and didn't find any trace of him.

He shook his head vigorously. _I'm letting my paranoia get the better of me now. _Coming to the firm conclusion that it was merely the dark side of his imagination, he continued through the campus, catching a cab over to the boarding house. It was coming close to four fifteen by the time he stopped in front of the stoop of the boarding house. He paid the driver and hopped out, then stepped inside. He took a second to survey the downstairs. It looked a lot better than it did last weekend, almost as if someone was living here.

He sighed again and closed the door, tossing his keys on the table that sat next to the door, pulling off his jacket and hanging it up. He looked up the steps, up to the darkened hallway, and hesitated before flipping the switch, afraid that yet another bulb would pop. Thankfully, this one didn't. As the bulb lit up the stairs, he slowly crept up, having each one creak under his weight. Before long, he reached the top, as he stared down the long hallway, lined with doors. He walked down the hall, recalling everyone he had grown to call family over the years popping into his mind as he passed what used to be their doors.

He stopped when he was in front of the draw string to his stair case. He reached up and pulled it down, hearing the hinges of the stair case squeak loudly as they hit the floor with a thud. He climbed up the stairs, each one creaking under his weight, until he reached his door. Placing his hand on the knob, he took a deep breath and braced himself before he pushed open the door. The door swung open and hit against the wall lightly. He took a hesitant step inside, and saw that it was just the way he left it. The first thing he noticed was that there wasn't much dust. Everything looked relatively clean.

He looked at the shelves, still filled with books, and mementos of his life time mile stones, he looked at his desk, with his old desktop computer sitting idle, looked at his bed, still neatly made. He looked over to his left, then walked over and grabbed the small remote off his desk, and gazed at it, feeling himself as a kid, coming home from a day of school, pressing a few buttons on this remote, and plopping down onto his couch. He slowly turned around, finding himself doing an about face out of nowhere, and reaching his arm out, and pressing a button on the remote.

The wall came alive as his red couch flopped out onto the floor, the hinges squeaking loudly as it came out. For the couch being as old as it is, it was still in pretty good condition, considering how much use it got over the years. The upholstery was coming apart in some places, and the color had faded somewhat over the years, but as he went over and sat down, rubbing his hand against the fabric, it was still as comfy as ever.

He simply leaned back and looked around his old room. This was his place of retreat, where he would go to get away from the world, a quiet place, his own personal fortress of solitude. He spent the next half hour going through his old records, and old year books. He was so caught up in his own world that he didn't even hear the front door open. "Arnold?" He heard a voice call out. He shut his eight grade year book and listened. "Arnold, you here?"

"Yeah, I'm up here." He yelled out, hoping his voice reached downstairs. He heard her footsteps quickly ascend the stairs and then up the attic stairs. She poked her head in curiously.

"Hey there." She greeted in a light voice, as she came to plop down next to him on his couch.

"Hey," He welcomed her, as he kissed her temple. "How'd it go?"

She simply shrugged and laid her head down on his shoulder. "I just knocked on the door, he gave me back my jacket and said goodbye. I didn't even say anything."

"Well, at least he didn't give you any trouble." He was grateful that nothing happened. He was glad that she took the pepper spray, but he just hoped that she would never have to use it. She looked down at the book still in his lap.

"Looking through old year books?" She asked incredulously.

"I couldn't help myself." He weakly defended himself. They spent the next hour going through all his old year books, with her covering her picture every year, with him always assuring her that she looked beautiful, and both of them reminiscing about their grade school days. And by the time they reached their senior year, Arnold was actually looking forward to next weekend, when he would get to see everybody again, especially his best friend Gerald.

Eventually, they found themselves on the roof, once it had gotten dark, lying back against his sky light and looking up at the black sky. They lay silently for a good ten minutes before Helga was cutting through the silence. "The first night I was in Africa, I was still a bit scared, of being in a completely different country, being immersed in a different culture. And I couldn't sleep. So, I went outside, to just try and calm my nerves. But then, I looked up, and the sky was just, completely covered in stars. You could see every single one, just millions of them, and it just, never seemed to end. I think that that was the night that I enjoyed most when I was over there. Just the pure awe that I felt for seeing so many stars for the first time. I felt like a child seeing the world for the first time. Every night I was over there, for three years, I would walk outside, when the sun was completely set, and just, gaze up at the stars." She paused as he looked over at her, seeing that she was searching for a single star behind the heavy light of the city. "Was it like that in Afghanistan?" She asked.

He leaned back against his skylight, and let out a long breath, recalling the first night of his tour. "It was cold. I remember, we got to the base real early in the morning, 'oh four hundred', and it was just starting to warm up. They briefed us for god knows how long, and by the time they let us go, it was around seventeen hundred, and it was close to a hundred twenty degrees, and we had been told that we were going on a day long mission and to be up at 'oh three hundred hours'. And I remember me and Eddie were sitting, eating MRE's in our bunks, and he said 'You better bundle up, Bright side. Desert's cold at night'."

She replied by rolling over and resting her head on his shoulder and curling into him as he draped his arm across her back. After a minute she let out a hum, as if coming up with an idea. "What is it?"

"Hmm?" She lifted her head up to him, not hearing the question, but after thinking about it, simply shook her head and set it back down upon his shoulder. "Nothing, I'm just writing."

"Writing? About what?"

"You." This sent Arnold's stomach aflutter with butterfly's, at the simple fact that she was writing something about him in her head. He knew she had a unique and well versed talent for the written word, but the fact that she was using that gift to write about him, was… flattering, scary even.

He gulped past the large lump in his throat, and forced his voice to sound as smooth as possible. "You're writing about me?" He asked as if he didn't believe her, if not, then still trying to wrap his head around the idea.

She lifted her eyes up to him again and shrugged. "What can I say? You're my muse, Arnold, have been for… quite some time now." He smiled brightly up at her and buried his hand in her hair, and pulled her down for a passionate kiss. As they kissed again, she moaned into his mouth and spoke against his lips. "You're in so much trouble."

"Why's that?" He asked in a breathless voice leaning up to capture her lips again.

She leaned back and tossed her hair over her shoulder, probably knowing that it left Arnold a puddle of goo underneath her. "You broke my train of thought." With that, he honestly did feel bad, and she seemed to notice, as she smiled warmly down at him, and brushed her fingers against his lips. "But there is a way you can make it up to me."

"Anything."

She got to her feet, leaving him still lying against the skylight, and then reached out her hand to him. "You can take me to bed."


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: This one is kind of short, but in the next one, I will introduce a situation that will complicate things a bit, what do I have in store? Keep reading to find out! And REVIEW! It encourages me!**

**On another note: I am in search of some cover art! So, if you are an artist, or if someone you know is, then let me know if your willing to draw something for me! If not, and you can find an image of Arnold and Helga that would depict this story appropriately, then let me know!**

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Waking up to a tickling feeling on his chest, he groaned and opened his eyes, to find himself lying on his back, with his gorgeous girlfriend looking down at him, propped up on her elbow with a warm smile and faraway look in her eyes, as she ran her fingers through the short hairs on his chest. He hummed as he recalled their late night and stretched out his strained muscles. As he relaxed back against the bed, he gazed up at her, noticing the unmistakable glow that she was emitting.

Last night was, in a word… unbelievable. It wasn't the slam each other against the wall, tear your clothes off, then fall down in a tangle mess of sweaty limbs as it was the previous two times. Instead, it was slow, it was loving, it was passionate, it wasn't rushed. They took their time, knowing full well they had all in the world, slowly peeling layers of clothing off each other, mapping her body with his lips, cataloging every sound she made in certain places, every movement she made, how every inch of her felt against him, committing every detail to memory.

While they did spend a good amount of time together in pure euphoria, reveling in the sensation of making love to each other, they did float back down to earth eventually, and cradled one another in a close embrace as they drifted off to sleep, hoping that this dream didn't end with sleep.

Helga continued to run her fingers through his chest hair as he gazed up at her, the bright blue morning sky slightly silhouetting her figure. "Morning," He mumbled.

She replied by leaning down and kissing his parted lips. She released him and spoke against his lips. "Morning."

Eventually, they got up. Arnold managed to find a pair of sweatpants to throw on as he made his way to the bathroom. The bathroom was a little dirty, but usable. He grabbed a hand towel off the rack and wiped down a few surfaces, and removing a few spider webs, just in case it freaked out Helga. He made his way back up to his room, and found her, just walking towards the door, legs bare, wearing his t-shirt from last night, letting it hang low so it covered her panties. As she drifted past him and padded her way down the steps, ghosting her fingertips past his shoulder, he was still amazed how easily she could captivate him, no matter what she was wearing, whether it be his clothes or hers.

He made his way downstairs while she was in the bathroom, and stopped at the bottom of the stairs. On a Saturday morning, growing up, this place was abuzz with life. Boarders conversing, and arguing, Mr. Potts yelling at Mr. Kokoshka for something, and Mr. Kokoshka innocently denying it, and Grandpa yelling at everyone to pipe down because Grandma was still sleeping, Arnold felt a heavy stab of grief when he noticed how quiet it is now.

He padded his way into the empty kitchen, and pictured his grandma at the stove, wearing cowboy boots and a cowboy hat, making flapjacks, and his grandpa sitting down at the table reading his morning paper. And the longer he stood there, the fiercer the tears stung at the back of his eyes. He tried to force himself to will away the tears, but he just couldn't do it.

_I'm a veteran! I'm supposed to be stronger than this. I've had three years to cope with this, and here I am, about to cry like a little boy! I'm not supposed to be this weak! _As he was scolding himself, standing motionless in the middle of the kitchen, he didn't hear Helga quietly approach him and make her way around him.

"Anything to eat around here?" She asked in typical Helga fashion. He felt himself suck in a quivering breath as he felt a pair of tears leak out as he continued to scan the bare, lifeless kitchen, now a dark, empty shell of what it was growing up. He heard Helga open up the fridge, "Nothing," then make her way to the cupboard to the right of the fridge, and open it, "Well, there's dry spaghetti." She said. He heard her reach for the box and pull it out. "Care for some Italian?" She said jokingly as she turned to face him.

As he kept his blurry stare down at his grandpa's unoccupied chair, sitting pushed into the table, he heard Helga drop the box of three year old noodles onto the floor, and rush over to him. She stopped in front of him, and lovingly caressed his cheek, but he refused to meet her concerned eyes. "Arnold, what's wrong?"

He sucked in another shuttering breath as he felt another tear leak out onto his cheek. "It's quiet." He stressed out with a voice thick with emotion. He felt her thumb brush across his cheek bone and wipe a tear away. He sniffled and continued. "Last time they were in here, Grandma was making pancakes." He looked over to the stove. "And she was making them too big." He felt himself laugh at the memory. "Her and Grandpa were in an argument over the perfect size for a pancake, and while they were arguing, Mr. Kokoshka was sneaking them off the plate, and Grandpa yelled at him, and he dropped them on the floor." He let out a watery chuckle as he sniffled again. "But Mr. Kokoshka just said 'But Grandpa, I'm hungry'… and Grandpa just yelled 'Stop calling me Grandpa!'." He felt the sting behind his eyes as more tears forced their way out. Helga quickly wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down into her shoulder, knowing that the dam had just broken.

Arnold clung to her quickly, squeezing her into him, as she rubbed a soothing hand up and down his bare back and shushed him. "I'm here." She assured him as he felt himself let out a silent sob into the crock of her neck.

"I miss them so much." He mumbled as he realized he didn't have the strength to make the pent up emotion stop.

"I know you do, Arnold. I know you do." She whispered into his ear. With a few more soothing words, and a little time, he finally calmed down, and let her go, keeping his eyes closed, feeling a little more than very embarrassed.

"I'm sorry I got so emotional. It's just I came down here and realized that I would never wake up to the sound of a chaotic boarding house again. It was just too quiet."

"Hey," She said firmly, "if there's one person in this world allowed to get a little emotional, it's you." He didn't say another word, just pulled her back into him, and buried his nose in her hair. By the time Arnold was willing to let her go, they had both lost track of how long they had been standing there. Helga pressed her lips against his bare shoulder and leaned back, meeting his gaze, silently asking if he was alright, and he responded with a warm smile and a sharp nod. "So, you want to finish cleaning up today? I don't think there's much left to do."

He nodded as he walked over and picked up the box of noodles she had dropped in her haste to calm him down. "Yeah, Rhonda will probably be glad to hear that it's ready."

"Speaking of her highness, she wanted me to come by her place today."

"She did? What for?"

"Oh, she wanted to get started on the outfit she wanted to make me."

"You're actually agreeing to that?"

"Yeah, what the hell? I mean, how bad can it be? Plus, if I get a new outfit out of it, then it might actually be worth it." She said as she hopped up onto the counter.

"True. I just don't know if she's one of those designers whose clothes look like a bad modern art sculpture."

"Well, if I show up at the party looking like a Picasso, then you can give me permission to kill Rhonda."

He chuckled as he came up to her and trapped her on the counter. "Why do you need my permission? If you want to kill Rhonda, that's your prerogative." She giggled as she leaned forward and gave him a chaste kiss. "I'll even be your character witness."

"Who says I'll get caught?" She said deviously. He beamed at her confidence and kissed her again. After a while, they got dressed into their clothes from the previous day, however Helga was reluctant to give him his shirt back, and Arnold was just as reluctant to take it back. But he insisted that she take one of his when they got back to campus.

Deciding to finish up cleaning before Helga went over to Rhonda's, they walked over to a nearby general store and bought a few cleaning supplies and went back to the boarding house. As Arnold made himself busy, pulling out the vacuum from the hall closet, Helga made her way upstairs to dust. An hour and a half later, the boarding house looked a whole lot better than it did a week ago, with all the light bulbs replaced, the dark grey coating that covered the surfaces now gone, the house looked like it was supposed to.

"We didn't do half bad." Helga said as she threw a dirty paper towel in the trash.

"Well, having to pass barracks inspection kind of helps. They'd yell at us if they saw one speck of dust." He recalled, shoving the vacuum back into the closet. "Ready to head out?"

She nodded and they headed out, catching a cab back to campus, deciding to part ways once they arrived, after getting a phone call from Rhonda while they were commuting. They stepped out of the cab and Helga wrapped her arms around him in a hug, and he returned it without hesitation. She leaned back and kissed him softly, pulling him in by a gentle hand on the outline of his jaw. They parted and Helga looked into his eyes with a sort of reassurance, silently letting him know that she was there, and that she cared for him very deeply.

He was hoping to put his emotional outburst behind him, but having her silently reassure him that she was there, and that she understood, meant a lot to him. She stepped back with a warm smile and a nod and started walking down the street towards Rhonda's.

He made his way back to his dorm and finished up a paper that was due in his writing class. It was around two o'clock in the afternoon, when his cell phone began to vibrate against his leg, and he was too caught up in the current book he was reading that he didn't look at the caller ID, and answered the phone. "Hello?"

"What's up, Bro?" Came a deep voice from the other line.

Arnold bolted upright in his bed in surprise. "Gerald? What's up?!"

"Nothing much, my man, just calling to let you know me and Pheebs are gonna be in town next weekend for some party Rhonda is throwing."

"Yeah, she told me about it last week. She invited everybody from back in the day."

"Yeah, that's what she told Phoebe on the phone."

"She owes me for having to give the entire boarding house a once over, though."

"It's at the boarding house?" Gerald asked, slightly surprised.

"Yeah, why, is that a problem?"

There was a pause on the other end of the line, before Gerald decided to speak. "No, it's just… I know you had some trouble going back there…before."

While it was true, that he did have a substantial amount of trouble going back after he was released from rehab, even asking Gerald to go back for him and pick up his clothes and a few other things for him, having Helga by his side did help. "Yeah, I did. But Helga helped me through it. I mean, if anyone knows about losing their family, it's her."

"How is Pataki nowadays? She still hanging around that one guy?"

"No, she broke up with him." He said, deciding to leave out the part of him sending his fist to his knee cap… for now.

"Well, that's good. I know you were worried about her with that guy."

"Yeah, well I took care of it."

Gerald chuckled at the other end of the line. "I don't want to know man. But anyway, Pheebs and I are going to be in town Friday afternoon, and we were wondering if you wanted to meet us somewhere, grab a bite to eat."

"Sure, we can meet at the Old Smoke, just off campus."

"Sounds cool, just text me the address and I'll let you know when we're close."

"Cool, my girlfriend and I will meet you there." He said, ready to bid his friend goodbye until Gerald was stopping him.

"Wait, wait, wait, hold up… girlfriend? Who's that?" Gerald asked, his voice squeaking a little.

"Helga…" Arnold replied, thinking Gerald already knew which obviously he hadn't.

"Helga G. Pataki is your girlfriend?!"

"Didn't I just say that?"

"Dude, when did this happen?"

"About two weeks ago, we've been getting along great."

Gerald seemed at a loss for words, starting a sentence, only to stutter, getting caught on words. "I'm sorry, Arnold, but I'll have to see it to believe it."

"Alright, just meet us at the Old Smoke and you will."

"Alright, I'll see you later, Bro."

"Later, Gerald." He shut his phone and tossed it back on the bed. He couldn't really blame him, sometimes, he could hardly believe he was dating Helga either. Arnold went back to his book, leaned back against the wall again and started to reading.

It was another two hours before Helga called him, telling him that she was done at Rhonda's, and that she was under strict orders to keep her outfit a secret from him until its debut at the party. But, after asking her back to his dorm, she declined, saying that dealing with Rhonda for four hours wore her out and that she was going back to her dorm to sleep for a bit. Arnold agreed, however disappointed. "Oh, Helga, Gerald called and he said that he and Phoebe are going to be in town Friday afternoon and that they wanted to meet us at the Old Smoke, Friday night, is that alright with you?"

"Uh… y-yeah, sounds good to me."

"Great, so is there anything you wanted to do tomorrow? Maybe go out and see a movie? Walk around the mall for a while?"

"Actually… there's something I need to do tomorrow, kind of overdue."

"Oh… Alright. Mind if I ask what that is?"

"I need to go visit Mariam."


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: As promised, here is another chapter. And in this one, more along the end of this chapter, I start to complicate things... but don't hate me. I will probably post the next chapter later this afternoon, and give you all a chance to read this chapter. I am really anxious to hear what you guys have to say about the next chapter because since I wrote it like, two or three weeks ago, i think it's my most well written, and probably the one that I have reread the most. But I'll be waiting for what you guys have to say about the next chapter when I post it. In the mean time, let me know what you think of this one!**

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Arnold sat at the bus stop, patiently waiting for his girlfriend to join him. It was Sunday morning, and a cool breeze calmly waved through the air, and he was a bit nervous.

After Helga had told him on the phone yesterday that she was going to visit her mother's grave today, he had asked if she wanted him there, fully expecting for her to push him away and tell him that she needed to do this alone, but to his surprise, she told him that she'd love to have him there. He was a bit nervous, a slight lump at the back of his throat. He didn't really know why, but the more he thought about it, he was going to meet one of Helga's parents, in a way. He tried to stop the thoughts like 'I wonder if she'll like me', knowing that questions like that were absurdly inappropriate.

Although he wasn't really meeting her parents, he decided to dress nicely, going with a pair of dark blue jeans, and a dark London fog that he had gotten as a gift in high school. Seeing her approach, wearing a pair of jeans and a black fleece, he stood up and hugged her, receiving a light kiss hello. They sat down at the bus stop, smashing their sides together. They sat silently until the bus pulled up and they got on, finding two seats together.

Several stops later, Helga stood up as the bus pulled to a stop, and started walking off, Arnold silently following in tow. They stood on the side walk outside a metal gate with a sign reading Hillwood Cemetery, sending a tight clench to grip Arnold's heart. "Uh…" He struggled to form words.

Helga looked over. "What is it?"

"It's uh… this is where Grandma and Grandpa are buried." He said in a slightly shaky voice.

Helga paused and stepped in front of him, looking at him with a soft expression. "You want to go see them?"

Arnold took a deep breath before closing his eyes and nodding. "Yeah, I probably should." Helga smiled warmly and grabbed into his hand and led him through the gate. As they walked through the rows of headstones, the cemetery was empty, and quite. Arnold knew exactly where they were buried, and knowing Helga was leading him to her mother's grave, she probably didn't know that they were approaching his grandparent's grave. Passing a couple more headstones, he saw it.

He let his grip on Helga's hand loosen as he stopped in front of it. She looked back at him but didn't approach. "I'll uh… I'll leave you alone." She said quietly as she turned around and walked away. He wanted to object, but she probably wanted to be alone at her mother's grave anyway.

He stood, motionless, looking down at the headstone, bearing the names of both his grandparents. '_Phillip Shortman, beloved husband and grandfather. Gertrude Shortman, beloved wife and grandmother._'

He never understood why people spoke to people graves until now. He couldn't just stand there. "Hi Grandma," He said, looking at his grandmothers name. "Hi Grandpa," He felt his heart clench slightly when he didn't hear a reply. "I miss you guys. The boarding house isn't the same without you. The _world _isn't the same without you. I… they found Mom and Dad, but they're gone. Dad's last entry said that he wished he had never left home, he said that he was sorry that I had to grow up without them, but… you guys did a great job." He was silent for a minute as he felt another cool breeze whip through the air. "I joined the army… just like you did Grandpa. I just wish you were here so we could swap war stories." He felt his eyes burn with tears, thinking back at all the war stories he had been told. "But, now… I think I'm in love. You remember that girl that used to pick on me in grade school? Yeah, she's my girlfriend now. I remember how you guys would look at each other, and I find myself looking at her that same way. I haven't told her yet but," A harsh wind whipped through the air, causing Arnold to shiver slightly. "But I will soon." He sniffled before kneeling, then lifting his fingers to his lips and kissing them, then placing on the top of his grandparent's grave. "I love you guys." He got to his feet and took a deep breath, feeling another cool breeze against his skin.

He turned to look for Helga, and spotted her a ways away, standing perfectly still, her hands buried in the pockets of her fleece, her gaze locked down onto a certain grave. Arnold slowly made his way over to her, stopped just a few feet away, and stayed silent until she noticed him. She looked over at him and smiled sadly. "Hey."

"Hey." It was a moment before she met his eyes again and nodded her head off to the side, motioning for him to come to her. He took the few steps that parted them and wrapped his arm across the small of her back, and let her lean into him. He looked down at the grave they were standing in front of and read it. '_Mariam Pataki, beloved mother'_. He stopped himself from asking why it only said mother, and not wife, but the thought only lasted half a second when remembering what her father had done.

Helga set her head down onto Arnold's shoulder and took a deep breath. "You know, she may not have always been all there, but every day, as I was about to leave for school or for work, she would say 'love you, dear'. I never paid it much mind until she passed."

"She did love you, Helga. She's your mother." He said, resting his head against hers.

"I know she did. I just wish I had said it back. I always viewed her as a burden, and I hate myself for thinking of her with such resentment at the time, but I can't remember the last time I said it back to her."

"I'm sure she knew you loved her, Helga." She responded by wrapping her arms around him and hugging him from the side. Looking down at the grave, Arnold noticed that she had placed three white flowers in the hole next to the headstone. "Nice flowers, did you get them?"

Helga lifted her head off his shoulder. "No…"

"Hmm, must have been an old friend or something."

"She didn't have any friends, she was a barely functioning alcoholic." She said as she pried herself off of him and took a step forward and picked one of the flowers up. "This is a white tulip." She whispered as she twirled the flower in between her fingers.

"So?"

"These aren't ordinary flowers, Arnold. They don't bloom this time of year, and these have been placed here recently. Someone bought these flowers specifically."

"Who would go through all that trouble?" She stared down at the flower for a minute before snapping her head back up at him with wide eyes. "What is it?"

"When I was in high school, and we were just moving into our apartment, Mariam was served with divorce papers, and one day I came home to her drowning herself in liquor, going on and on about how 'the flowers at her wedding were so pretty'. She kept asking me to go get her some, and I said no, but she wouldn't let it go. She just kept saying that she needed her flowers again."

"What are you getting at?" He asked, thinking he knew what she was saying, but needed to be sure.

Her eyes hardened. "White tulips were the flowers Mariam and Bob used for their wedding."

Arnold froze at what she was implying. "You're thinking Bob left these here? Why would he do that, and if he did, why three? That seems like a pretty specific number to pick."

"Bob proposed to Mariam three times before she finally said yes. I remember because Olga told me the whole story on their anniversary when I was a kid. But what I don't get is why he suddenly decided to grow a heart. I get why he decided to crawl out of whatever whole he was in to see Olga, but why come here? Even when I was a kid, I never remember my parents acting like an actual husband and wife. Why, after eight years, does he come to visit her grave?"

"I don't know, Helga." He said honestly. He could hear that she wanted desperately to get answers, but he couldn't give them to her. "If he came here, do you think he went back to see Olga?"

Her eyes widened in shock as she quickly dug her phone out and dialed a number. "Yeah, my name is Helga Pataki, the sister of Olga Pataki, one of your patients. I need to know if anyone besides me has come to visit her." There was a moment of pause where Helga began to pace nervously back and forth across the ground. She stopped suddenly and put on an angry scowl. "Listen to me you old Broad! If you don't tell me who else came to see my big sister right now, I'll jump through this phone and send you and your rodeo clown make-up back to the sixties!" She yelled into the receiver. She looked back up at him and ran a hand through her hair. "Alright, thanks." She snapped her phone shut. She looked back up at him after putting her cell phone back in her pocket. "Bob went to see her last Wednesday."

Arnold and Helga quickly ran through the cemetery and out onto the street to wave down a cab. Once they got one, Helga told the driver to take them to the rehab center, and the driver nodded and drove off. "You think Bob came to get her out?"

"No, I'm worried she'll leave voluntarily and go looking for him and fail, which will trigger a regression that won't stop until she overdoses. I don't think she can handle Bob abandoning her again. And I'll be damned if I let that happen. Bob's taken a lot but I'm not letting him take my big sister."

Once the cab stopped, Arnold paid the cabbie and they jumped out, while Helga ran past him and into the doors of the rehab center. Arnold quickly caught up with her at the reception desk, just as she was beginning to argue with the receptionist. "Listen lady, I need to see my sister. I don't care what meeting you have to pull her out of, just get her." The heavy set lady conceded and picked up the phone.

"Yeah, Marty, Olga Pataki's younger sister is here to see her, she says it's urgent." The receptionist paused, then hung up, and shot a blank look over to the couple. "She'll be out in the visitor's hall in a minute." Helga was down the hall in an instant.

Arnold placed a hand on her arm as she was swinging open the door to the visitor's hall. "You want me to go in with you?"

"Yeah, she's been bugging me to bring you to meet with her anyway." He smiled uneasily at her as they made their way into the deathly white room. Helga stood near the table Arnold had found her at two weeks before, pacing across the floor rapidly, waiting for her older sister to appear. He wanted to tell her that it was going to be okay, that everything was going to be fine, but she didn't need false hope right now.

Suddenly, the door opened, and in walked Olga, clad in a pair of grey yoga pants and a white t-shirt. "Baby sister!" Olga beamed as she ran up to Helga and into a fierce hug. Olga looked a little better than the last time Arnold saw her, however he could tell that the symptoms of withdrawn had set in.

"Hey big sister." Helga said, and Arnold's heart warmed at the sound of Helga calling Olga 'big sister'.

"What's wrong, Helga, they said it was urgent." Olga said, placing her shaky hands on Helga's shoulders.

"Did Bob come to see you last week?"

Olga's smile softened as she rubbed Helga's shoulder. "Yes, he did."

"What did he say to you, Olga?" Helga asked harshly.

"He said he was sorry." Helga scoffed, and rolled her eyes. "He really meant it, baby sister! He said he misses me, and he misses you, and he misses Mom. He said that he regrets leaving, and that he wishes he could take it all back. He said that he wants his little girls back."

"Olga…" Helga led them over to a pair of chairs and sat in front of her, knee to knee, and took Olga's hands in hers. "I know that you want to believe that Bob has changed. But he can't change. He had his chance with us and he blew it."

"But Helga, he's our father!" Olga practically begged.

"Olga, if he cared about us, he never would have left us in the first place. You're the only family I have left Olga, and I don't want him taking you away from me too. He already took Mom, I don't want to lose you too." Helga's voice was becoming more and more soiled with each word that passed her lips.

"You won't lose me, baby sister." Olga pulled her sister into a hug, and Helga hugged her back without hesitation. "I love you, baby sister."

"I love you too, big sister."

Olga opened her eyes, and looked directly at Arnold, who was watching from the sidelines with a warm smile, until he noticed Olga staring at him. "Is that Arnold?" Olga asked, feigning incredulousness.

Helga leaned back and quickly wiped her eye with her palm and chuckled. "Yeah, it is." The sisters stood up, and Arnold did the same, walking over to greet her. Arnold put on a charming smile as the sisters approached him. "Arnold, you probably remember my sister Olga. Olga, this is Arnold."

Arnold flashed his charming smile again when he was introduced by his girlfriend. "Oh, I remember Arnold." Olga said, nudging her sister. "Why, the last time I saw you, you were barely three feet tall. But look at you now."

"Hi Olga." Arnold said softly.

"Hi Arnold… my baby sister's quite head over heels for you."

"OLGA!" Helga hissed, putting on a very angry scowl.

Arnold chuckled again as he slid his hands into his pockets. "Well, if it means anything to her," He looked over at Helga, who currently had her blushing face buried into the sleeves of her fleece. "I'm pretty head over heels for her too."

Olga nudged her sister again, and Helga peeked out. "I like him." She whispered, and he could hear Helga laugh despite her face still being buried in her hands.

"Excuse me." A voice said from behind them. They turned to see a stout nurse standing in the door way, with a smile on her face. "I hate to interrupt, but Olga has to get back to her meeting, if that's alright." The trio nodded.

"Thank you, Denise. I'll be there in a minute." Olga said, raising a hand up to the nurse, motioning her to give them a minute. Olga turned to Helga and the sisters hugged again. "Mmm, I love you, baby sister."

"Right back at you, big sister." Helga replied, rubbing her hand up and down Olga's back. Olga let her sister go and then turned to Arnold, then opened her arms up and bent her knees, eagerly awaiting him to give her a hug.

Arnold gave a nervous smile and stepped forward and gave Olga a hug. As he lightly wrapped his arms around her, he noticed that she was slightly boney, but he ignored it as Olga wrapped her own arms around his shoulders. "You hang on to her, Arnold." She quietly whispered into his ear.

"I plan to, Olga, for as long as she'll let me." He whispered back.

"And if you ever hurt her, I'll come after you." She warned in a light tone.

"I wouldn't dream of it." He whispered back as he released her, and smiled brightly at her when she leaned back, earning a bright smile back. Olga made her way over to the door and the awaiting nurse, then turned back and waved as she made her way down the hall. Arnold looked over to Helga, who was still staring at the door her older sister had just departed from. "You alright?"

He heard her let out a deep breath. "Yeah, I'm just worried that she's falling for Bob's crap again."

Arnold considered it for a minute, then spoke. "I don't know, Helga. Maybe he really has changed."

"I know my father, Arnold." She said, turning to him and giving him a pointed look. "He's a Pataki, he doesn't change for anybody… not even another Pataki." She turned on a heel and started to make her way out the visitor's hall, and Arnold quickly caught up with her just as she was shoving open the door, slamming into the push bar angrily. He knew better than to challenge her.

He settled for walking silently next to her, hoping that his presence was enough to calm her down. She stood out on the street, waiting for the bus to show up, with her arms crossed, with Arnold waiting next to her, close enough to where their hands would brush together, but not smashing their sides together. Eventually, he felt her head fall onto his shoulder, and he looked down to see her eyes half lidded in a tired expression. He pressed his lips to the top of her head and set his head down against hers.

They climbed onto the bus and made their way back to campus, and Arnold walked her back to her dorm. She stopped them outside the main entrance to her building and stepped into him, fisting her hands in his shirt. "Olga may be a bit… out there, right now but… she was right about one thing. I am pretty head over heels for you."

He looked lovingly down at her. "Yeah…" His mind screamed at him to say it, to just come out and actually tell her, but the words caught in his throat. He opened his mouth, but the words didn't come out. Just then, a harsh wind whipped through the air, rushing past Arnold's ears in an almost deafening sound.

"Why the hell is it so windy?" Helga asked as she braced herself against him.

"That time of year I guess." He said as he shielded her from the gust. Once the wind had died down, she looked up at him, and kissed him sweetly.

"I'll text you in the morning."

"Alright, see you later beautiful." He said as she stepped away.

She giggled and turned around. "See you later, handsome." She replied cheekily as she flung open the door and stepped inside. He sighed heavily once she was out of sight. He had his chance, it was right there, to finally tell her how he really felt, but he didn't take it. He didn't know why he was hesitating so much, why it was so scary to confess his feeling to her. He made his way across the courtyard and over to his own dorm building just as the wind was starting to pick up again. He was just inside when he heard his cell phone start to ring. He dug it out of his pocket and looked at the caller ID, which read unknown. He hesitated for a second before flipping his phone open and hitting the call button, accepting the call. "Hello?" He was met with silence. He looked back at the screen and say that it was still connected. "Hello?" He tried once more.

"Is this Arnold… Shortman?" A deep voice asked.

"Yeah, why?" He asked cautiously.

"I wanted to talk to you, about Helga."

Arnold's shoulders tightened. "Who is this?"

"I'm her father, Bob Pataki."


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Here it is! Out of all the chapters I have written thus far, I've got to say that, personally, this is my favorite as far as dialogue goes. And I say thus far because I am just putting the finishing touches of chapter 19, and you guys are going to hate me to say the least. But not until then! **

**I would have waited till tomorrow to post this chapter, but I'm too proud of it to keep it locked up! Call me over eager, but I can't help it. Let me know if you love it as much as I do by REVIEWING!**

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Arnold walked into the small diner, and scanned the faces, looking for the one he was here for. He spotted him sitting at a booth in the far corner, slumped over a cup of coffee. He took a deep breath and rolled his shoulders back before making his way across the diner and stopping in front of the booth where he sat. Bob looked up, surprised, and started to stand. As he got to his feet, towering over Arnold a few inches, and outweighing him by a few hundred pounds, Bob stuck out his hand for a hand shake. "Thank you for meeting me, son."

Arnold looked up into his eyes and was surprised to see a certain sincerity behind them. He grabbed onto Bob's hand and shook it firmly. "With all due respect, sir, I would appreciate it if you didn't call me 'son'." Arnold remained stoic as Bob stayed silent for a second.

Bob nodded. "Fair enough." He motioned for Arnold to sit down, and he did, sitting down and leaning against his forearms with his hands calmly clasped upon the table top.

"You wanted to talk about Helga…" He said, and Bob nodded.

"Yeah…does she…"

"She doesn't know I'm here. And unless I find a reason to change that, it's going to stay that way."

"Listen, kid, I know Helga doesn't think very highly of me. She never has."

"I can't say I blame her, sir."

"Look, I know I screwed up. But I've changed."

"You'll forgive me if I don't take your word for it, sir."

"No, you're right, I wouldn't believe me either. But it's true." He paused as he looked down at his coffee cup. "I was in a bad place when I left, kid. Big Bob's Beeper's was my legacy, I wanted it to be a family business, give my kids and grandkids something they could call their own. I even wanted Helga to take the whole thing over one day. But when that damn chain store came in and started under cutting me, I fought them off as long as I could. But then, one night when I was staying late at the shop, and one of their junior executives came up to me with a briefcase full of case and offered to buy me out. I realized I failed. I failed my family, and I couldn't face them… so I took the money and ran."

"Helga told me that you drained all of your bank accounts and left them with nothing. They had to sell their house just to put food on the table."

"You got it all wrong, kid. I did close all those accounts, but I didn't touch that money, haven't since I put it in an account in Helga's name. I didn't want Mariam spending it all on booze, because I knew she would, that woman was drinking ever since Helga was born. Couldn't handle herself when the post-partum depression hit, and I was always too caught up with keeping the beeper store up and running, I never took the time to get her help."

"So instead of giving Helga and her mother the money that you took, you expect me to believe you when you say you have it safely tucked away in a bank account in her name? Do you have any idea how much pain you caused her? I've heard more horror stories from her living with her alcoholic mother, than I did in the military. About how she had to work twenty to thirty hours a week to pay their rent and put food on the table, while her mother was sneaking money out of their joint bank account to buy liquor. About how she came home one day after getting off work early to find her own mother face down on the kitchen floor in a pool of her own vomit. About how the only people at her funeral were her and the priest…"

"I'm not asking her to forgive me…"

"No, instead you're here trying to get me to convince her to forgive you."

"No, that's not why I called you here. Look, I'm going to be straight with you. When I heard through the grapevine that one of my daughters was in rehab…"

"You thought it was Helga."

Bob hung his head down in shame. "Yeah, I did. I thought that she had somehow found out about that bank account and raided it and got herself into trouble. I thought that if I went down there, I could use some of my old influence to get her out of it. But when I saw her standing in that lobby, my first thought was where did I go wrong?"

"Go wrong with Helga?"

"No… with Olga. I always thought that she was the good one, that she was the one that would take the Pataki name out into the world, do great things. But instead, she ended up in drug rehab. I always thought that Olga was the strong one. But when I saw her last week, she just looked so…" He paused when his hands started to shake. "Look, I don't know Helga, I never have, and there's not a day that goes by now that I don't regret that. But one thing I can tell… is that she loves you."

"You've been watching us, haven't you?"

"I just wanted a chance to apologize, but every time I went over to that college of yours, she would be with you. And I've seen the way she looks at you, and the way you look at her. There was a time when Mariam and I looked just like that."

"The flowers… three white tulips, it _was_ you."

"On our first date, I went to pick her up, and I stopped by this flower stand to get her some of her favorite flowers, but I was flat broke and could only afford three of them. Ever since then, three white tulips meant that I loved her, no matter what. And I lost sight of that when I opened up the beeper store."

"Why did you call me here, sir?"

Bob dug into his pocket and brought out a folded piece of paper, opened it up and set it down on the table. "I want you to give her this. It's the account information for the bank account that's in her name. There's enough in there to pay for her school, maybe buy herself a decent car. I just need you to give her this, you don't have to tell her who it's from or where it came from, just…"

"I can tell you right now that she won't take a single cent of that money, sir." He said as he slid the paper back across the table to him. "Just the simple fact that it has your finger prints on it will be enough. And even if she didn't know who it was from, and just somehow believed that she inherited a gross amount of money out of nowhere, Helga wouldn't keep it. She likes to make it on her own steam. It's who she is."

"I just need to know that she's taken care of."

"She doesn't need taken care of, she can take care of herself. You underestimate her to the point of belittlement. She spent three years in Africa working with the Peace Corps. She practically raised herself all her life, and damn a damn fine job doing it. She took care of her mother the best she could, while paying both of their bills, and still managed to graduate with a 3.6 grade point average. She even read a poem she had written on graduation. Anyone who can take on that much responsibility at the age of seventeen, and handle it with as much strength and dignity as she did… deserves to be happy. And I intend to make that happen."

"You asking for her hand, kid?"

"No… not yet anyway. And when I do, I don't think I need to run it by you. If Helga eventually decides that she does want to spend the rest of her life with me, then I don't see why you get to have a say in the matter if you didn't have enough of a backbone to stay in her life in the first place."

"You're out of line if you're saying I don't love her. Way out of line. I'd give anything to have my family back. That's why I'm here… I'm trying to make amends."

"No, you're here trying to buy her off."

"That's not what I… look, I got nothing, no one, I'm just a poor old fool who spent too much time looking for his answers at the bottom of a bottle of Jack Daniels. If she won't take the money, then can you at least give her this?" He dug in his other pocket for a minute, then pulled out a faded piece of pink cloth, tied in a bow. Arnold stared down at the bow, recalling quickly that that is _her _bow. Up until middle school, she was famous for her pink bow. Bob slowly slid it over to him. "She'll know what it means."

"Helga wore this in grade school." He reached up and picked the bow up, and ran his fingers across it.

"No matter what she might tell you, Helga was no mistake. Even Olga was happy that she was going to be a sister. I got that bow for her on her first birthday. I took it with me when I left, just as something to remember her by." He paused as he looked down at his lap again. "I know I screwed up… something fierce, that I didn't pay enough attention to her as a child, but I could tell, even when she was a baby, that she was a Pataki. She had the old fighter spirit. I know that she won't change her mind about me. Her mind is made up."

"That doesn't really mean anything, sir." He didn't know what came over him to be supportive of Bob being back in Helga's life, but he knew what it was like to not have a father, and with the exception of Helga, Arnold would give anything to just be able to meet his dad, just once.

"Of course it does. She's a Pataki! She doesn't change her mind for anyone, not even another Pataki." Bob paused for a minute, then continued. "I'm not asking for another chance, all I'm asking for is that she knows her poor excuse for a father loves her."

Arnold paused, then looked Bob directly in the eye. "I love your daughter, sir. I like to think that I know her better than anyone and I also like to think that she knows me better than I know myself. If I'm lucky enough to where we end up spending the rest of our lives together, then I honestly couldn't wish for anything more. But I'm not going to force her to do anything that she doesn't want to do, whether I agree with her or not. So if she wants you back in her life, then it will be on her terms. And right now, I don't think she's willing to make room for you in her life, sir."

Bob chuckled and leaned back in his seat. "You keep calling me 'sir', like you actually respect me."

"You salute the rank, not the man."

"So…" Bob began, but trailed off. "You were in the military."

"Three years in the army, spend ten months in Afghanistan."

"And you've known Helga a pretty long time?"

Arnold eyed him suspiciously. "Since we were little… is this going somewhere, sir?"

"I just want to know who it is my daughter fell for. Like you said… she deserves to be happy. And I know my opinion don't count for nothing, but she's still my little girl, and as far as I'm concerned, no one will ever be good enough for her."

"I'm not good enough for her, far from it, in fact… but that doesn't stop me from trying to be, sir."

"But it's like you said, it's her choice, and I got no right butting into her life. I thought about her a lot, and my biggest fear was that she would grow up and fall for someone like me. That she would have one of those uh, what do you call them…"

"Oedipus complex."

"Yeah, that… but you seem like a good man, Arnold, the kind of man that my little girl deserves."

Arnold paused when he heard what he had just been told, not sure he actually heard it right. "Thank you, sir." He replied honestly.

They sat in silence for a minute before Bob reached over and picked up a napkin and dug out a pen from his pocket. "I know that Helga ain't going to be talking to be anytime soon, but, just in case…" Bob slid the napkin over to him. "Here's my cell number. She can reach me anytime, day or night." Arnold climbed out of the booth, then slid the napkin in his back pocket, while Bob stood up. Bob stuck his hand out again and Arnold shook it firmly. "It was nice meeting you, kid."

"You too, sir." Arnold said uneasily. He turned around and quickly walked out of the diner, trying his best to make it look casual. He began walking briskly down the street back to campus as his thoughts swarmed in his head. He sounded so sure of himself while he was conversing with Bob about Helga, but now, he had no idea what to do. Now, he was stuck with a phone number and her old pink bow and a million reasons to give it to her, and a million more not to. He stopped and leaned heavily against a brick wall and ran his hands through his hair and let out a frustrated groan. He dug out his phone and checked the time, seeing that it was now four o'clock, and Helga was probably curled up in her dorm reading a book, or watching Fringe on his DVD player which she had borrowed from him.

He took a deep breath before hitting speed dial one and putting the phone to his ear. The dial tone rang in his ear twice before her sultry voice came on from the other end. "Helloooo…"

"Hey there, beautiful." He said warmly, smiling brightly into his phone.

"Hey there, what's up?"

"Nothing, I just… needed to hear your voice."

"Aww, you miss me already?" She teased.

"You've no idea."

"I can come over if you want, I'm not doing anything."

"No, that's alright."

"Oh, come on. You got me all excited now, and now if I don't come see you I'll be all antsy until morning and I won't be able to sleep and then I'll crash during class in the morning then I'll fail the class then I'll flunk out of school and then I'll end up a 48 year old cat lady living on welfare, eating ho-ho's for all three meals, and it will be all your fault."

He laughed brightly. "Alright, just give me a few minutes, I'm not actually at my dorm, I had to run out to get something."

"Okay, I'll be there in ten."

"Okay, can't wait, love you."

"See ya-what?" She said just as he hung up. He started to jog back to his dorm, and was about half way down the path to his to his dorm building until he slowed to a stop.

His eyes widened in panic and his slightly heightened pulse picked up furiously. "Did I really just say that?" He buckled over and placed his hands on his knees as his heart thumped angrily in his throat. "Oh god…" He pressed his palm up to his forehead and tried to get his breathing back under control. He straightened himself up and took a few very deep breaths. "Alright, you just accidently told Helga that you love her. You've been in worse situations than this before, Shortman." He looked down the path, and spotted a blur of blonde and pink sprinting across the courtyard at a staggering speed, and into his building. "Although I can't think of any."

He quickly ran to his building and up the stairs to his door, where he saw her practically vibrating with anticipation as she bounced on her heels in place, in a pair of loose fitting pink flannel pants, grey tank top, and running shoes, her hair back in a ponytail as it always was. He took one last deep breath and unstuck his foot to where it seemed to be welded to the floor underneath him, and walked towards her.

He took a few steps, and she still hadn't noticed him as she was still facing his door, still bouncing in place. "Helga?"

"Eep!" She let out a loud yelp as she practically jumped a foot in the air. "Arnold!" She ran up to him, and stopped just short of tackling him and stood perfectly still with her hands clasped down, her arms pointing straight down, as she beamed up at him. "Hi…" She said with a bright smile on her face.

"Hi," Her pupils were starting to dilate as she put her bottom lip in between her teeth, trying to bite back her face splitting smile.

"I just uh… You said come over, and so then I came over and now am over and I'm here and I'm waiting for you and now you're here and I'm just… happy to see you." She rambled off.

Arnold laughed to himself when he saw how utterly adorable she was being. And at the sight of her gleaming eyes sparkling up at him, he felt his fears melt away. "Something on your mind, Helga?" He asked coyly.

"No, no," She said quickly. "Well… here's the thing. You kind of… said… something. And while I'm pretty sure it was just my imagination, I just wanted to see if you actually did say it and it wasn't just the insane ravings of an _extremely _giddy ten year old girl in a pink dress." She started bouncing again as she bit her bottom lip a little harder.

He smiled brightly and placed his hand on her cheek, bringing her anxious bouncing to a dead stop, and brought her in for a slow, passionate kiss, making sure to pour as much of himself into it as he could. He leaned back and looked into her now half lidded, faraway gaze, and lips still slightly puckered. "I love you, Helga."

Her expression didn't change in the slightest when she spoke. "Is Brian home?"

"No, he visits his parents on weekends."

"Good." She grabbed onto the collar of his shirt, and pulled him with her as she pulled him backwards into his dorm room, opening the door as she went, then slamming it shut. He quickly got what she was getting at, and tossed his coat onto the floor, and shot his arms around her, and kissed her hard. She returned it with just as much force as she worked her lips against his. They fell onto his bed, and were already tearing off layers of clothing, removing as much of their shirts as they could before they had to detach their lips to whip them off, only to return to each other with more force, as their tongues delve into each other's mouths.

Helga quickly undid his belt, and then was shoving his pants down his legs, until he was kicking them to the floor. He kissed his way down to her pulse point, circling his tongue over it, before kissing his way up to just below her ear, which he knew drove her crazy. As he kissed her there, she let out a long, low moan as she wrapped her legs around him and draped an arm across his shoulders, pressing his chest into hers. He reached behind her and slid his hand between her and the mattress and unhooked her bra, as she moved to toss it off of herself.

Once her breasts were bare, he latched onto her right breast, as his hand molded itself against her left. He gently bit down onto her nipple, then soothed it over with his tongue, leaving her to fist her hand in his hair. He wrapped his fingers around the waist line of her flannel pants, and sat up to peel them off of her long legs. As he slowly brought her pants down her legs, with her slowly raising her legs will they were straight up in front of him, completely bare, revealing the endless plains of her smooth toned skin, he ran his hands down her legs, as she seductively bent one leg then wrapped them both around his waist then pulled him back down to her. He quickly captured her lips in a loving kiss as she buried her hands in his hair again. She moaned and he leaned back. "You love me…" She said breathlessly.

"I love you…"

She smiled brightly and snaked her arms around his neck. "I would say it back, but it doesn't feel like enough."

"It's more than enough, Helga."

She pulled him down and kissed him. "I love you, Arnold, I've always loved you…" She kissed him again before she spoke against his lips. "I never stopped."

"I never want you to."


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: So I know, I've posted three chapters in one day with this one going up tonight, but I just finished chapter 19, and already half way done with 20. So, here you guys are! Keep the reviews coming!**

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"Hey Helga, you ready yet?" Arnold called up the stairs.

"Keep your shirt on, I'll be down in a minute!" Helga shouted back from the bathroom.

"Alright." He replied under his breath as he looked at the clock against the wall.

It was Friday night, and Gerald had just called from his car, saying that they were back in town, and headed over to the bar. They had come back to the boarding house after finishing their classes that afternoon and were getting ready to head out. Arnold was dressed in a pair of dark blue jeans, and a white long sleeved dress shirt, going for the casual yet slightly formal look. He had yet to see what Helga was wearing, as she was still upstairs putting it on. Arnold leaned against the banister and waited patiently for her.

They were better than ever since they had confessed each other's true feeling to one another. He saw a new light shining in her eyes, and she smiled brighter when she saw him for the first time every day. Although, this new transition didn't come without a price.

He still hadn't told her about his meeting with Bob, and currently had the bow he was given tucked away in the draw of his desk upstairs. He had been battling with himself to tell her about it since it was given to him, and it was selfishness that was holding him back. He didn't want this feeling to end, didn't want her to stop _loving _him, and he knew the longer he waited, the worse the fall out would be. She deserved to know, about everything. But he just couldn't bring himself to do it.

The sound of her footsteps coming from upstairs brought him out of his internal struggle. Shaking his head, and putting on a smile, he looked towards the top of the stairs, to see her descending them, clad in a pair of light blue, and tight fitting denim jeans, a light pink shirt with a white stripe going across the abdomen, her hair loosely cascading down her shoulders. He always loved that she never did her make-up heavy, it was always very light, tiny bit of eye liner, some blush, and a thin layer of lip gloss. She made her way past him, and grabbed her bag off the table next to the door, and opened the door, then looked back at him. "You coming or what?"

He nodded and shoved off the banister. They got out onto the side walk and waved down a cab, and told the driver where they were headed. After a couple minutes Helga began to nervously wring her hands together, not going unnoticed by her boyfriend. "Everything okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, fine." She replied hurriedly. "Just a little nervous…"

"Why, it's just Gerald and Phoebe." He said, nudging her side.

"I know that." She was silent for a moment, as the cab pulled to a stop at a red light, and Arnold thought the conversation was over, and looked back out the window. "Phoebe and I haven't spoken to each other since Bob bailed out on us." She informed him quickly. "She tried to help me, like she always did, but I just pushed her away."

"I thought you said you drifted apart in high school."

"We did. But it was because of me. The day after Bob left, Phoebe came by and I told her everything, and she offered to help, but I said that I just needed to be alone, and that I would call her when I was ready to talk about it. I just never called. So yes, we did drift apart, but only because I turned my back on her, and now I'm not sure if she can forgive me."

Arnold chuckled and draped his arm across her shoulders and pulled her into his side. "Are we talking about the same Phoebe here? You know, Gerald told me that on their first date, she wore this beautiful green dress that her dad had bought her specifically for that date, and the waitress spilled pasta sauce on it. He told me that she stood up, her lap covered in this thick, red sauce, and hugged the waitress, and told her that it wasn't her fault. She even made Gerald leave a 20% tip."

"Is there a point to this anecdote?" She asked, slightly annoyed.

"Phoebe can and will forgive practically anything, it's who she is. I'm pretty sure the only reason the Vatican hasn't made her a saint is because she isn't dead yet."

"But I was so mean to her when we were kids."

"Helga, you were mean to everyone. And might I remind you that you appointed yourself my own personal tormentor from pre-school till the seventh grade, and look where we are now, or need I remind you that I fell in love with you."

She smiled warmly. "I guess you're right." They were silent for a moment before she continued. "And no, you don't need to remind me, but hearing you say it will never get old."

He laid his head down against hers breathed the scent of her perfume in through his nose. "Good."

They pulled to a stop outside the Old Smoke, and they both climbed out, agreeing to split the fare this time. The cab drove off and they quickly made their way across the street and into the bar. It was a little crowded for a Friday night, and a little noisy, but luckily, there were two vacant seats at the bar and they quickly went over and sat down. "What'll it be, guys?" The bartender friendly asked, as he leaned against his arms.

"I'm not sure what Phoebe drinks, but I know Gerald takes Rum and Coke, and I'll just take a Sam Adams."

The bartender nodded, and cracked open the top of a dark brown bottle. "And for you, ma'am?"

"Apple Martini, please." The bartender nodded and turned around to make her drink, then turned back around and set her drink down in front of her. They sat in silence for a few minutes, taking sips of their drinks, and he noticed that Helga kept looking towards the door, body tensing every time the door opened, then relaxing when it wasn't Gerald and Phoebe who walked through the door. After the fourth time, Helga downed the rest of her Martini, and motioned for another, and the bartender quickly complied and set another Apple Martini in front of her.

While Helga seemed to be entranced by her newly made drink, Arnold glanced over to the door, and saw a tall black guy with a short flat top, wearing a red button up shirt left open with a grey t-shirt underneath, and standing next to him, standing a full foot shorter than the man next to her, was a small framed Asian girl, wearing a dark blue t-shirt, and matching skirt, wearing a pair of thin clear rimmed glasses. Arnold smiled as they scanned the bar for them. He looked over at Helga who was still running her finger along the rim of her Martini, and nudged her with his elbow. She looked up at him, then over to the door, and her eyes immediately widened, and she sunk down to the bar.

He simply climbed off his bar stool, and grabbed onto her hand, and dragged her with him as he made his way over to the couple still standing at the entrance. Once Gerald saw him, his face broke out into a wide grin, as did Phoebe's, as she bounced on the balls of her heels and waved over at him ecstatically.

"What's up, my man!" Gerald shouted as he came up to him, engaging them into a tight, brotherly hug. They patted each other on the back heavily, then leaned back. "I see you're walking again."

"And then some," He replied as he patted his best friends shoulder, then turned to smile brightly down at Phoebe, who was still smiling brightly. "Hey Phoebe."

"Hi Arnold!" She said as she launched herself and wrapped her tiny arms around him. "It's so good to see you again, we both missed you so much!" Arnold hugged her back tightly, having to lean down slightly to hug her shoulders.

"I missed you guys too." He said, releasing Phoebe as she stepped back. He looked between then and noticed that Gerald was still looking at him. He had expected him to be saying hi to Helga. "Guys," He took a step back, and waved his arm off to the side, revealing Helga, standing there with a sheepish smile and slumped shoulders. "You remember Helga." She gave a slight nervous wave.

Gerald's eyes widened in shock. "That's Helga?" _Uh oh…_

"Oh for god sake, that's the third time!" She shouted, throwing her arms up. "Yes! It's me, Helga Geraldine Pataki! Here, in the flesh! The same girl who wore a pink dress, pink bow and pig tails as a kid! Okay, hair boy?!" Arnold looked over to Gerald, who had recoiled in fear, and hand his hands up in a defensive position. "I swear the next person that does that…" She muttered under her breath.

"Yeah, that's Helga." He said in response. "Sorry, Helga, I just wasn't expecting you to be so… so…"

"So, what?" She asked, crossing her arms and raising an accusing eye brow.

"So hot," Arnold cut in, saving Gerald from saying it. Helga looked over at him and pursed her lips. He simply flashed her a smirk.

"You do look pretty fine, Helga." Gerald said, his eyes giving her a once over.

"While I appreciate the compliment," She said, taking a step towards Arnold. "I'm all set in the boyfriend department." She looped her arm through his and gave him a confident smile.

"So, you weren't kidding, you're really dating Helga Pataki." Gerald said, casting a glace over at Arnold.

"Yes," He replied confidently, snaking his arm around her back, and around her waist, as she leaned against him. They were all silent for a moment and Arnold could tell that Helga was trying to avoid looking at Phoebe. _She's going to kill me for this. _"Hey Gerald, why don't you and me go get some drinks." He felt Helga squeeze his side.

"Sure." He said on a shrug.

"Are you drinking Phoebe?" He asked as he dislodged himself from Helga.

"Ask if they have Russian Red, if not then just vodka tonic." Phoebe chirped.

"Russian Red or vodka tonic, got it." He said, making his way over to the bar.

"Thank you, Arnold." She called over to him.

Gerald and Arnold made their way over to where he and Helga had been sitting, and Arnold slid Helga's martini over to his side, finished off his beer, then motioned for another. "What'll it be, man?" The bartender asked Gerald.

"Rum and Coke, and, do you have Russian Red?"

The bartender set down another Sam Adams down in front of Arnold, and then grabbed a bottle of rum, as is brow scrunched together in thought. "Russian Red? No, can't say that we do." He said as he poured a bit of rum into a glass of ice.

"Just a vodka tonic then," Gerald said, as the bartender set his drink in front of him. Gerald spun around in his bar stool, and leaned back against the bar, taking a drink. "Ten years ago, if you had told me that you would be dating Helga Pataki, I would have had you committed."

Arnold spun around in his bar stool and mirrored Gerald's posture, as he looked over at Helga and Phoebe, who seemed to be conversing quietly. "I'm in love with her, Gerald."

"Vodka tonic," The bartender said behind Gerald, as he set a new glass down onto the bar. Gerald thanked him with a smile and turned back around.

"In love with her? You sure this isn't some prank you're pulling on us?"

"It's true, Gerald!" He hissed as he shot an angry look over to his friend. "She's amazing." They both looked over to their girlfriends and watched them talked.

"You know, Phoebe was worried that Helga wouldn't talk to her, said something about leaving her in her time of need or something." Gerald said, taking another drink of his rum and coke.

"Really? Helga was worried about the same thing. She said that she told her that she would call her after her dad left, but she never did. She was afraid that Phoebe wouldn't forgive her for turning her back on her."

"Are you kidding? Phoebe's the nicest person on the face of this earth. She makes Mother Teresa look like Ms. Hendrix from English." They both laughed, recalling the old haggard lady they had as an English teacher in high school.

"I even told her about the time the waitress spilled sauce on Phoebe's new dress."

"Oh yeah, I remember that night." Arnold and Gerald watched the two girls talk, seeing them embrace in a tight hug.

After taking a closer look, then another, Arnold spotted something on Phoebe's finger. "Gerald?"

"What's up?"

"What is that on Phoebe's finger?"

"Oh, that…"

"Oh my god, Phoebe!" They heard Helga shout from across the bar, looking over to Phoebe presenting her left hand up to Helga, with a shy smile on her face.

"Is that what I think it is?" Arnold asked.

"Well, it's not friendship ring." Gerald shot back, taking another sip of his drink.

"So you finally did it… you finally proposed."

"Yeah, about a month and a half ago."

"Congratulations, Bro." Arnold raised his bottle up to Gerald, who clinked his glass against it.

"Thanks bro, oh, before I forget," Gerald reached into his back pocket, and pulled out a post-it note. "I need you to send your tux measurements to this guy."

"Why is that?" Arnold asked, not getting where he was going with the statement.

"Can't have the best man show up to the church looking like that, can we?" Gerald said as he pointed over to him.

Arnold smiled over at him and held out his hand. Gerald smiled back and reached over, locked their fingers together and shook their thumbs together, doing their long time hand shake. "I'd be honored, Gerald." They leaned back against the bar looked over to the girls again, as Helga still seemed to be grilling Phoebe about their engagement. "We better get over there," Arnold said, grabbing Helga's apple martini off the bar.

Gerald grabbed Phoebe's vodka tonic and followed Arnold over to where the girls were. "I'm assuming you told her?" Gerald asked his fiancé, handing her her glass.

"I've got to hand it do you, hair boy, you did pretty good." Helga complimented him as Arnold handed her her own glass.

"So did you…" He replied, nodding over to his best friend, and newly appointed best man. Helga tried to hide her blush, but it didn't stop Arnold from reaching out and pulling her in by the waist, to have her drift effortlessly into him. They eyes locked, and taking a chance, Arnold bent down and kissed her, tasting the sour taste of her drink on her lips, which were returning his kiss lovingly. He released her and leaned back as her eyes gleamed up at him.

"You two are so cute together." Came a small voice from their side, as Phoebe looked over at the couple across from them. Helga looked over at her, then back up to Arnold and wrapped one arm around his neck, still leaning into him. Phoebe raised her glass in the air, and spoke. "To Helga and Arnold," Gerald raised his glass up to hers.

"To Gerald and Phoebe," Arnold said, raising his bottle up to theirs, with Helga's joining them. They clicked the glasses together and drank to toast each other.

"So, are you excited about the party tomorrow night, Arnold?" Phoebe asked.

Arnold shrugged. "You mean am I excited about everyone being under the influence of obscene amounts of hard alcohol and in my house, which Helga and I just spent two weeks cleaning? Yeah, I'm thrilled."

"I don't know, I think it'll be fun." Helga said, turning around and leaning back against Arnold, who was leaning against a support beam.

"Yeah, Rhonda even said that Eugene was going to take pictures of every one and have them printed out for them." Arnold said, wrapping his arm around Helga's stomach.

"Eugene's a photographer?" Phoebe asked, with a highly intrigued tone.

"Yeah, and from what I've seen, a pretty damn good one."

"You think he'd be willing to do our wedding?"

"Couldn't hurt to ask, I'm sure he'd love to."

"Have you guys set a date yet?" Helga asked, finishing off her martini.

"June 23rd, we're still debating on the location though. He wants it at the church where his parents got married, and I want it out in the country, with a gazebo and everything, but we can't seem to compromise."

"Where'd your parents get married again, Gerald?"

"First Hillwood Baptist."

"Go with the gazebo," Helga responded, and Phoebe lifted her hand up to her, and they hi-fived each other.

"What do you think, Arnold?" Gerald asked him, probably wanting a vote for his side.

"As long as I can reserve the right to wear a black tuxedo, and only black, I don't care where it is." Arnold answered, taking a swig of his beer.

They bickered a bit longer before all their drinks were empty, Helga and Phoebe offering to get them refills, leaving Gerald and Arnold alone again. "Where are you guys staying?" Arnold asked.

"Phoebe had made plans to check in at a hotel for the weekend."

"You could come stay at the boarding house if you want, that's where Helga and I are headed after this."

"Is there any room there?"

"Gerald there are seven empty bedrooms, all furnished. I think we can squeeze you in." He replied sarcastically.

"Alright, I'll ask her what she wants to do. She did say that we have to go visit her parents tomorrow morning for breakfast."

Arnold chuckled. "Looking forward to that?"

"I still think they haven't gotten over the resentment they have towards me for taking away their daughter."

"You asked her dad permission, didn't you?"

"Of course I did, I'm not stupid. Her mother loves me, but I'm pretty sure her dad just tolerates me."

The girls returned with their drinks and handed them theirs. "What you guys talking about?"

"How much I'm looking forward to seeing your parents tomorrow." Gerald said sweetly.

"My parents love you Gerald, I don't know what you're so worried about."

"Why don't you just take her to see your parents to get her back?" Helga asked him.

Gerald barked in feigned laughter. "Because my parents treat her like royalty whenever she comes over, they treat her better than they treat me sometimes. Not to mention she's always gossiping about me to Timberly."

"You should count yourself lucky, Gerald, the only person Arnold has to impress is Olga, and she likes everybody."

Arnold felt a stab of guilt just then. As it turns out, it seemed he had impressed her father, but he knew that she didn't care about his opinion. Up until now, he had silenced his thoughts about the situation. But now, he couldn't let it go. He looked over at Gerald, who was listening to the conversation intently. He needed advice, he needed to resolve this situation before it got out of control. "So, you guys are cool staying with us for the weekend then?" He heard Helga ask.

"That's fine with me." Phoebe said.

"Then it's settled. Why don't we meet you guys back at the boarding house."

Eventually, they all agreed to take Gerald's car back, agreeing that Arnold was sober enough to drive, and after twenty minutes of late night traffic, they found themselves heading up the stairs of the boarding house. They stepped through the door, and threw off their jackets. "You guys can just pick any room, their all vacant. Hey Gerald," Arnold said as he was hanging up his coat on one of the hooks. "Can you meet me upstairs in my room, there's something I need to talk to you about."

Arnold made his way up to his room, and nervously pulled open the draw of his desk, and pulled out Helga's old pink bow. There was a knock on his door, and Arnold quickly dropped the bow back in the draw and shoved it closed. "Yeah?"

Gerald opened the door and stepped in. "What's up, bro?"

"Close the door." He commanded quietly. Gerald looked behind him, and slid the door shut.

"Something on your mind, man?"

"What I'm about to tell you can't leave this room." Gerald nodded, and Arnold sighed heavily. "You know how Helga said that Bob left and she hasn't seen him since," he nodded again. "I met with him."

"What do you mean?"

"About a week ago, Bob called me and asked me to meet him, to talk about Helga, and I agreed. So I met with him, and he told me how sorry he was, how much he regretted leaving his family, and that he wanted Helga to know that he still loved her, but I knew Helga wouldn't hear any of it. In her eyes, she doesn't have a father, and she wants to keep it that way. She feels like it's her job to protect her sister from going back to him. So as far as she knows, Bob is just here to see Olga."

"… but…"

"He said that he knew Helga wouldn't give him a chance to apologize, so he gave me something to give to her, he said that she'll know what it means." He walked over to his desk, and pulled out the faded pink bow and set it gently down onto his desk, and Gerald's eyes went wide as he saw it.

"Is that what I think it is?"

"Yeah… he said that he gave it to her on her first birthday, and that he took it when he left as something to remember her by."

"So, why do you still have it?"

"I've been afraid to tell her." He confessed. "I was going to the same day that I met with Bob, but then I let it slip that I love her, and then she said it back, and I just got… caught up. And now, I'm afraid if I tell her that I went behind her back and met with her father, she might not be able to forgive me."

"So… you're afraid that her hatred for her old man out weighs her love for you?" Gerald concluded, as he plopped down onto Arnold's couch, and Arnold ran a hand through his hair and nodded.

"You didn't see her Gerald. When we went to go visit Olga, and she saw him for the first time after eight years… I've seen Helga mad before, but she was furious. She didn't even let him say a word to her, she just screamed at him to get out and to never come back, saying that he had no right to call her his daughter."

"So… he called you and asked you to convince her to give him another chance?"

"No… he even said himself that he didn't deserve another chance. He just wanted me to give Helga her bow."

"Arnold, you do realize that if you tell her all this, she won't be mad at you. She'll be mad at Bob for trying to weasel his way back in. Sure she might be pissed at you for a while, but I'm sure it will blow over with time."

"There's something else."

"Okay… what's that."

Arnold took a deep breath and sat down next to Gerald on the couch. "When Bob left, after his beeper store was bought out, he closed all of their bank accounts and drained all the money out of them. Helga told me that he took the fifty grand from the buyout, and all their savings, and ran off, and left them with nothing. And I don't blame Helga for hating her father, what Helga had to go through…" He paused to keep his anger in check. "He told me that he didn't touch their savings at all. He said that he did close the accounts, but he put all of it in a bank account that was in Helga's name. He said he didn't want her mother getting ahold of it. He wanted me to give her the account information; he said it was enough to pay for her college tuition, and then some."

"And you believe him?"

"I saw the bank statement, Gerald. It's a small fortune. But I know Helga, she wouldn't take a single cent. She would think that Bob is trying to buy her off."

"And you really think he's for real? You're the best judge of character I've ever met, Arnold, how'd he come off?"

"Like a man who desperately wanted his family back."

"Are you sure?"

Arnold shook his head. "No," He leaned back heavily against the back of the couch. "I don't know what to do Gerald. The longer I wait to do something about this, the worse it's going to be when I finally tell her, but no matter when I tell her, I think she'll think I betrayed her for even agreeing to meet with Bob in the first place. I just don't know what to do, Gerald."

"Mmm, mmm, mmm…" Gerald shook his head. "I've known you for a long time, Arnold, hell, we literally grew up together. And in the 21 years I've known you, I know one thing. You're a bold guy, Arnold, a bold guy, and if anyone can handle Helga G. Pataki, it's you. So, I suggest you just put it all out there, tell her everything, and try your best to explain it." Arnold covered his face in anguish. "But not this weekend, this weekend is about having a good time, which ain't gonna happen if you two spend the whole time arguing."

"You're right, I'll tell her on Sunday night."

Gerald swung his arm over Arnold's shoulder and shook him. "Don't worry man, she'd be a fool to give you up."

"Somehow, I don't think that will stop her…"


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: So this is the chapter most of you have been waiting for, the party. I hope you guys like it. Most of it is humor, and the rest is fluff, kind of, but the wheel keeps spinning with the next chapter. So please review!**

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As Saturday morning turned from calming, with Arnold and Helga curled up on his couch in his room, soft jazz playing in the background, to very hectic, with Rhonda waltzing in with a small catering crew in tow, Arnold had gone and hid in one of the empty rooms of the boarding house, now crawling with a catering crew, setting up tables of food in the kitchen, and another crew hanging up lights and a sound system on the roof.

He was currently sitting in Mr. Potts's old room reading, when he noticed that the hall had quieted down significantly. Rhonda wasn't barking out orders as she had been ever since she had arrived. He closed his book, and cracked open the door, and poked his head out into the hall, to find it empty. He stepped out into the hall way and looked to his left, then to his right.

"Is this really necessary, princess?" A voice came from down the hall towards the stairs.

"Of course it is, dear! You said yourself you liked the design I showed you last week, so yes, this is necessary." He saw Rhonda practically shoving Helga into the bathroom, a black garment bag draped over her shoulder, with another large black bag hanging from her wrist.

"Rhonda?" Arnold called out to her as he started for them.

"NO! No, you just stay over there, and let me work my magic on this perfect angel and she'll be out in a jiffy." Rhonda said, halting him with a hand out in front of her.

"I'll give you perfect angel!" Helga's frustrated voice spat back as Rhonda rolled her eyes and slammed the bathroom door shut behind her.

"Okay then…" Arnold turned to go back into his hiding place until he heard the bathroom door open again.

"Oh Arnold…" He turned his attention to the ajar bathroom door, and towards Rhonda poking her head out. "Are you planning on changing? I mean you look so handsome already with the whole t-shirt and shorts look, but I kind of need you looking… better?"

Arnold looked at himself, and inspected his current attire, which was a grey shirt reading 'ARMY' across the front, and pair of gym shorts. "Yes, Rhonda, I was planning on changing."

"Super!" Rhonda disappeared into the bathroom again, and he turned back to his room. "Nothing in red," Rhonda said from the bathroom, "or green!"

"What _are _the approved colors?" Arnold shouted.

"Blue!" He heard her shout just before slamming the bathroom door shut again. Arnold sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He didn't have anything in blue with him here. He sighed and turned back to his hiding place, closing the door behind him and leaning heavily against it. He couldn't go back to campus, he needed to be here to play host in case people started to show up, with Rhonda busy with Helga. He did have an outfit he had brought with him for the party, but it was his green dress shirt he had worn to his first date with Helga, which according to Rhonda, he couldn't wear.

He wasn't even sure if he _had _anything in blue. _I wonder if Grandpa has something. _He hesitated before deciding to go look. He took a deep breath and flung open the door, hearing a strained 'hold still' come from behind the bathroom door. He made his way to the door, with a small piece of paper taped to it, reading 'Do not enter!' on it. He opened the door and stepped slowly into the pitch blackness of the room. He took a deep breath and turned on the light.

It was if they had never slept here at all. The bed was neatly made, and everything was put in its place. He closed the door behind him and stepped over to the dresser, running his hand across it and picking up a thin layer of dust. He decided then to just do what he came in here to do before the memories got to him. He stepped into the walk in closet and walked all the way to the back, knowing that Grandpa's everyday outfit would be in the front. He quickly scanned through the shirts, until he found a blue one. He pulled it out and examined it. It was a navy blue dress shirt, with thin strips running down, and black diamond's down the chest.

He hummed to himself in satisfaction and pulled it carefully of its hanger, and slipped it on. _It fits, at least._ He stepped out of the closet and in front of the mirror on top of the dresser and pulled the sides of the shirt closed, and looked at himself in the mirror. _Looks pretty good, _he thought as he smoothed down the front of the shirt. He slipped the shirt off and tossed it over his shoulder, and was eager to leave the room, until something on the edge of the dresser caught his eye.

It was a small wooden box, about five inches by six inches, with a small piece of paper sitting underneath it. Arnold slowly stepped back up to the dresser, tossing the shirt down onto the bed, then picking up the box, and opening it.

Arnold was confused to say the least, as he looked down at the watch that lay inside. He never remembered Grandpa wearing a watch. He picked it up and held it up to the light. The band was thin, finely made leather, and the watch itself was silver, with black plating and gilded arms on the inside. It was a very nice looking watch, but he had never seen it before, and it wasn't new either, that much he could tell by the light wearing on the inside of the wrist band. He held the watch in one hand, while he set the box back down on the dresser, then spotted the paper that was underneath it, with his name written across the front in black ink.

He swallowed past his heart and hesitated when he noticed it was in Grandpa's hand writing. He set the watch back down into the box and picked up the piece of paper, and opened it up.

_Hey there short man, _

_I know what you must be thinking, kiddo. But it's like I told you, it's the curse, and this time, I can feel it. I don't have much time left on this earth. _

He felt his eyes burning, as he fell upon the bed, and continued reading.

_Your Grandma and I have been talking, and we know that when we're gone, you'll do just fine. I'm so proud of you, Arnold. I raised two fine young men, and there's not much else an old man like me can ask for, besides a little bit more hair. _

_We never told you this, but when you were about 14, a man came by the boarding house, some lawyer from the city. He told us that your parents had been declared legally dead. We didn't have the heart to tell you. The worst thing you can do to a person is to take away their hope, and we couldn't handle it if you lost yours, Arnold. You have such a good heart. _

_Anyway, when that lawyer came by, he told us that all of your parent's assets were now legally ours. So, Pookie and I agreed to set that money aside, and use it to help pay for your college. It's already in the will, along with the deed to the boarding house, and the Packard, but I left a little something out. _

_In this box, there's a watch. I gave it to your father as a graduation gift, just like my father gave it to me as a graduation gift, and now, it's going to you, Arnold. Your father left it with me when him and Stella left, for safe keeping, and I haven't had the heart to wear it. I always thought I would give it back to him when he came back, then he'd give it to you himself. _

_Who knows, maybe one day you'll pass it on to your son. You don't have to name him after your dear old grandpa if you don't want to, but, it would sure be nice if you did. _

_I'm proud of you, Arnold, and I love you. _

Arnold folded the letter back up and blinked away the tears, then picked the watch back up. He smiled sadly as he looked at it. He took a deep, cleansing breath as he held his wrist out, and slipped the watch on, then tightened the band, then pulled the knob out to adjust the time, then pushed it back in as it began to tic.

He wiped his eyes with his forearm and then rubbed his face, trying to hide the fact that he had been crying. He picked up the shirt, along with the letter and the box, and made his way out into the hall way, shutting the light off, then closing the door, making sure the 'do not enter' sign was still hanging. He made his way back up to his room, just as a pair of men wearing back braces were climbing down through the sky light. He closed his door, and walked over to one of his shelves, placing the letter inside the box, then placing the box on the shelf, and sliding it back.

He sighed heavily, as he went over to his closet, and grabbed the slacks he had brought, along with the shoes, then made his way back into his previous hiding place to get dressed, to avoid getting interrupted by the moving crew moving the sound system up to the roof. Once he was dressed, leaving his shirt un-tucked, he went down to the kitchen and ran a little water through his hair, noticing that the bathroom was still occupied.

There was a knock on the door, and Arnold went over and opened the door, and let in Phoebe and Gerald, Arnold and Gerald doing their handshake as he entered, and Phoebe giving him a quick friendly hug. They were both dressed in a casual formal look, as the trio moved into the living room. "Where's Helga?"

"Still being held hostage by Rhonda up in the bathroom, they've been in there for a while now, and won't let me in."

"So what's this whole surprise outfit she has?" Gerald asked from the couch.

"Don't know, hence the surprise part. I don't even think Helga knows." Arnold said as he leaned against the mantle. "All I know is that I'm supposed to wear blue." He said, motioning down to his shirt.

They continued to talk idle chit chat, when there was a knock on the door, and Arnold moved to answer it. He opened the door to reveal Eugene, wearing a red polo shirt and black sports coat, carrying a large bag slung over his shoulder. "Hi Arnold!"

"Hey Eugene, you need a hand with that?" He asked, looking down at the other bag he had set down at his feet.

"Sure, that'd be great." Arnold leaned down and picked up Eugene's second bag for him, and closed the door as Eugene made his way inside, and set his bag down against the wall. He turned around and took the other bag from Arnold and set it down next to the other, and then began to look around the hall way, then slowly moved into the living room, looking over all the walls, the furniture, the mantle, studying the whole place. "I just wanted to come by a little early to scout out the location. Rhonda said to get as many shots as possible."

"Hi Eugene!" Phoebe chirped from her place next to Gerald on the couch.

"Hey Phoebe!" Eugene came around and leaned down and gave the girl a hug. "How are you doing, Gerald?" He turned to him.

"I'm alright, man, how about you?"

"I'm just fine, thank you for asking." He replied in a cheery tone. "Where's our hostess?"

"Upstairs torturing Helga," Gerald said.

"I think at this point, it might be the other way around." Arnold said, as he took a step out into the entry way to glance up the stairs.

"Oh, Helga's here? I haven't seen her in a long time."

"Oh, speaking of which," Arnold turned to Eugene and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Whatever you do, do _not _ask her if it's really her. Gerald did it last night at the bar and he's lucky to still have a head."

"Um, okay, I'll refrain from asking Helga if she's really Helga." He said with a firm nod.

Arnold thanked him, and Eugene swayed his way into the kitchen and continued to study the place. They talked for a while longer, and it was starting to get dark outside, and Arnold had just looked his watch when there was a knock on the door. He made his way over to the door, and opened it. "Hey Arnold!" Harold stepped through the door, and gave him a friendly smack on the back, knocking the wind out of him, as he made his way into the living room to greet Gerald and Phoebe. As Arnold wheezed, he was startled by a hand on his shoulder.

"Sorry Arnold, sometimes he doesn't know his own strength." The woman said, leaning down to look him eye with a soft smile.

Arnold laughed and straightened up, and smiled over at her. "Hey Patty," He said as he stepped up to greet her with a hug. "I heard about the wedding, congratulations."

"Thanks, Arnold," She said, looking down at her left hand at the two rings that were there. He waved her in and closed the door behind them as she joined her husband in the living room, just as he was hi-fiving Gerald. Arnold joined their conversation about their times on the high school sports teams, as people began to filter in. First was Sid, wearing a long sleeved black shirt, with a white vest over it, then was Nadine, wearing a purple dress coming up just above her knees, then Stinky, in a pair of jeans and a green dress shirt. They all met up in the living room, and were all wrapped up in a conversation about their new lives, when Arnold heard another knock at the door, and went to answer it.

He opened the door to a tall, very attractive, red haired girl with a long French braid, wearing a pale blue skirt, and matching blouse. She gave him a shy smile, "Hi Arnold,"

He smiled warmly back at her. "Hi Lila," She stepped inside and then into him and gave him a hug, and he hugged her back. "Long time, no see," He said as she stepped back.

"It's so nice to see you again, Arnold. I haven't seen you since graduation. What have you been doing?"

He gave her another smile, "It's a long story. I'll tell everyone when we really get started."

Lila looked past him, and into the living room, crowded with people, then sank back in front of him, looking up at him with a scared look. "Is…"

"Yes, he's here." He interrupted her. He leaned down and whispered in her ear. "He just asked about you a couple minutes ago."

"He did?" She said, moving back and giving him an excited smile. He nodded and she gingerly moved past him and into the living room, where everyone greeted her, shouting her name as she entered the room, as they have the last few people that walked into the room.

"Psst! Arnold!" He looked over to the stairs and saw Rhonda crouching down and waving him up to the stairs. He began up the stairs, and she stopped him just as he reached the top. "Arnold Shortman…"

"Yes, Rhonda?"

"After hours of preparation, sweat, blood and tears, I present to you, a Wellington Lloyd original and one of a kind…"

"GET ON WITH IT DRAMA QUEEN!" Helga shouted from the bathroom, making Arnold bite back laughter.

Rhonda scoffed, "Fine, Arnold, prepare to be wow'd…" She said cockily as she stepped aside, and Arnold looked over at the bathroom door, waiting for her to step out, his heart racing.

"Now?" Helga shouted.

"Yes, honey, now!" Rhonda shouted back.

Arnold's fists tightened as he saw her foot step out into view, clad in a blue, open toed, four inch heel. She stepped out fully into the hall way, and his veins seize up at the sight of her. The dress had a dark blue, tight fitting bodice, the fringed hem coming down two inches above her knees, moving up her long figure, the front had two pieces of waved fabric coming off the center into a v-shape, leaving the top of her chest exposed, and arms bare. Her hair had been done in a bun with a pair of chopsticks through it. "Helga," He heard Rhonda whisper, and twirl her finger in a circle. Helga, slowly turned around, and he about fell down the stairs when he saw that her dress left the top of her back open. She turned back around, and looked up at him with a sheepish smile.

"Wow…" He finally managed. Her smile brightened as she crossed one leg over the other. "You're… perfect."

"Thank you, sweetie! Now, I'm going to go play hostess and get this party going while you work on picking your jaw up off the floor." Rhonda breezed past him and down the stairs. She started slowly walking up to him, and he felt his feet move under him of their own accord.

"So… you like it?" She asked shyly, as she stopped a foot away.

He nodded stupidly as his eyes continued to rack over her. He swallowed passed his dry throat and placed his fingertips against her hip. "Do I need permission from Rhonda to kiss you, because I don't think I can make it all night."

She giggled and stepped into him, placing her hands against his chest. "Screw her…" She said as she pushed up to place her lips against his. They kissed sweetly, and he moaned into her mouth, earning another giggle from her as he floated back down when their lips parted.

"You look amazing, Helga." He whispered as they sat their foreheads together.

"Now, let's get this party started! Sound system is all hooked up on the roof," Arnold heard Rhonda shout. "_And I'm sure Arnold will show you how to get up there_!" He heard Rhonda shout in an obvious tone that told him he had a job to do. "Now, let's hit it!" Every one cheered in response and started moving up the stairs.

Arnold quickly pulled Helga into his room and helped her up the ladder, and onto the roof, staying behind to help the others. As everyone came through his room, and onto the roof, he smiled at each one as they passed him and began climbing up the ladder. He heard club music start to play as he heard the doorbell ring and then the door open.

Eventually, Eugene came in and made his way up on the roof, with his camera, followed by Sheena, then Phoebe, with Gerald stopping at his side. "You ready to party, bro?"

Arnold looked over and grinned, giving him a knowing look, and they did their hand shake, then climbed onto the roof. He got to his feet up on the roof, to see lights strung up over the side, lighting the roof up in white light, with four flood lights set up in a square in front of the sound system, with a small crowd of people already dancing. He began scanning the group for his girlfriend, and spotted her over by the table of drinks, talking to Phoebe. He made his way over to her and she smiled brightly when she caught his eye.

As the night wore down, and more people had shown up, the roof was crowded, and the make shift dance floor was always abuzz with dancers. But Arnold and Helga were entertaining a small group of people, consisting of Stinky, Sid, and Lila, over off to one side, as Arnold sat against the ledge, and Helga sat in his lap, his arms hugging her from behind. "Gosh, Arnold, I never would have thought you'd go into the army." Stinky said.

"Yeah, what gave you the idea?" Sid asked.

"A lot of things, really, I mean, I knew that my grandpa was in the service, but it wasn't until I found out that my father was a marine that I decided to join the army."

"Did you see combat?" Stinky asked.

"Spent ten months in Afghanistan, I probably would have gone back if I hadn't gotten wounded." There was a collective gasp throughout the group with the exception of Helga, who had heard this story already.

"You got hurt?" Lila asked worriedly.

Arnold nodded and pointed to his right leg where his scar was. "How'd it happen?" Sid asked.

Arnold told the group the story of how he got wounded, and Stinky was the first to respond. "You sure are a hero, Arnold."

"I was just doing my job, Stinky." He said, waving a hand to try and stop Stinky from painting him as a hero.

"Did you get a purple heart?" Sid asked.

"Yeah, but it's nothing special. We had this air force guy come through our fob one time, and he sprained his ankle hopping down from his bunk, and walked away with a purple heart. It's sitting in a box back at my dorm, along with my other medals."

"You know, I spent the summer collecting for care packages to send overseas to our troops, did you ever get one of those?" Lila asked him.

He laughed, "Yeah, I got one. But all everyone did was complain because they never sent the two most requested items."

"What are those?"

"Booze and porn." He said bluntly, as Stinky, Sid, and Helga, burst out in laughter, leaving Lila to simply chuckle.

"What about you, Helga? What have you been doing?" Lila asked politely.

"I joined the Peace Corps right after graduation, after my mom died."

This earned more of a gasp then when Arnold had told them that he had joined the army. "Wow, really? Where'd you go?" Sid asked.

"West Africa, spent three years there, came back and decided to go to college for writing."

"And that's where this happened?" Sid asked, motioning between Arnold and Helga. They both nodded, and Arnold placed a quick kiss on Helga's cheek.

"Gosh, I never would have thought that you two would be dating." Stinky said.

"What about you, Stinky, anyone special in your life?" Arnold asked, casting a quick glance over toward Lila, who was now looking down at the ground.

"Oh no, no one special. I'm still single."

"Oh," He replied nonchalantly, winking over at Lila when she looked back up at him.

"Hey guys, come over and dance!" Rhonda shouted from the dance floor. Sid moved out onto the dance floor, along with Stinky and Lila, who had drifted towards one another as they went, leaving Helga and Arnold still sitting on the ledge.

"You want to dance, beautiful?" Arnold said, squeezing her.

"Love to," She replied as she got to her feet and extended her hand to him, which he took and ran her out onto the dance floor, making their way through the group next to Gerald and Phoebe. They started to move casually to the music, not doing anything too fancy, and stayed in very close proximity to each other. After a minute, Helga interlaced her fingers behind Arnold's neck, and started to dance seductively in front of him, and he responded by keeping his hands on her waist, and moving with her.

The song changed to an up tempo jazz number, and Arnold raised his brow over at Helga, who smiled and nodded. "You sure you want to do this?" He asked her over the music.

"Let's see what you got," She replied as she pressed herself into him, grabbing onto his hand, and placing her other on his shoulder, while he placed his hand onto the small of her back. As people continued to dance around them, they moved together and glided with each other to the tempo of the upbeat sound of the music. Arnold stepped out, and spun her in a circle, and then dipped her backwards, then brought her back up with a smirk. They continued to glide across the dance floor, and Arnold now noticed that it had cleared off, and everybody was watching them, but he thought as long as he continued to keep his eyes locked with Helga's, she wouldn't notice.

He didn't take his eyes off the bright blue iris's that were shining back at him, as he tossed her out to his side, then curled her back in, then dipped her back when she returned. He held her there for a moment, before he heard a loud applause erupt from the side line group. He had to fight the strong urge to lean down the rest of the way and kiss her feverishly, like he wanted to, and settled for pulling her up right, keeping his soft smirk painted on his face as he heard a loud whistle coming from his side, which he could only guess was Gerald.

The music changed back to a club song that Arnold didn't recognize, and brought Helga back into him, as the crowd got back onto the dance floor. "You're pretty good, Helga."

"Well, I had a good partner." She said as she replaced her arms around his neck, and continued to dance slowly, their eyes still locked. "I love you, Arnold." She spoke softly.

"I love you too, Helga."


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Updates won't come as fast now, I'm still working on chapter 20, but it's almost finished. Thank you all for reading, and reviewing!**

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After a couple more songs, Arnold and Helga made their way off the dance floor, that had already began to thin out, and made their way down stairs. Helga stopped him just before he made his way down his attic stairs and pulled her four inch heels off, leaning against him with her hand on his shoulder for support. She placed them beside his door then took his hand as they continued down stairs.

There were a couple people engaged in a conversation in the living room, consisting of Sheena, Sid and Iggy. Helga pulled Arnold into the kitchen, where Nadine sat at the table talking to Curly. Helga let go of Arnold's hand is she made her way over to the counter where the multiple plates of food sat, most of which at least half empty. She began to examine each plate, looking for something appetizing, but after a minute, she stepped back and crossed her arms. "None of this stuff…"

"Looks eatable?" He finished as he looked at the plate in the center, inspecting the small cracker with something dark green, and chunky on top. "I swear I've had MRE's that looked more appetizing."

"What exactly is an MRE again?" Helga asked, stepping up and grabbing one of the things he had just mentioned.

"Meals ready to eat, its where they take already digested food, but it in a small bag, and call it an MRE. You learn to appreciate a home cooked meal pretty quick, after eating a couple of those."

Helga popped one of the green things into her mouth and her face instantly grimaced into a disgusted scowl. She took a large step over towards the sink and spit it out, "Uh, what are those things, they're disgusting!"

Arnold quickly looked around, and spotted an open cooler in the living room. He briskly stepped into the living room and looked in the cooler, and pulled out the first bottle he spotted, and moved back into the kitchen to find Helga scraping off her tongue with her fingernails. He twisted off the cap and handed her the bottle, which she snatched up and began to chug. After a few long seconds, she put the bottle down, and let out a grunt as she picked up a napkin off the counter to wipe her mouth. "Pretty nasty, huh?" Nadine asked her as she picked her bottle back up off the counter.

"It was like I was eating raw sewage with cheese." Helga quipped, making Nadine laugh.

"H-hey Arnold! C-m here a minute!" A slurred voice called out from the living room. Arnold sighed heavily and pushed off the counter, recognizing the voice as Sid, which made him hesitant to answer his summon. While some people became either really loving or really hateful when they were drunk, Sid became philosophical, often getting into arguments with others, which Arnold often had to defuse.

He walked into the living room, to see Sid sitting in one corner of the couch, Sheena in the other, and Iggy against the adjacent wall. "What is it, Sid?" Arnold asked, in a slightly annoyed voice.

"You believe in a soul right?" Sid asked, waving his beer bottle in the air in uncoordinated movements.

"Sid, might I ask what sparked this unusual, and might I add highly controversial topic of discussion?" Arnold asked, crossing his arms.

"Well, Sheena here thinks that the idea of a soul is preposterous, and Igs won't swing either way."

"I'm staying out of it." He muttered.

Arnold sighed again, and grabbed a beer out of the cooler next to his feet, and popped off the top, just before moving across the room to where Iggy was standing, and raised his bottle up to his. "Smart move," He complimented, and clinked their bottles together. Arnold sat down on the coffee table as Helga leaned beside the window behind him. He looked over at Sid, who was giving him the look that said he was waiting for an answer and becoming impatient. "I don't know…"

"What do you mean 'you don't know'?"

Arnold shrugged and took a swig of his beer. "I don't know." He repeated.

"So you don't?" Sheena asked.

"I didn't say that." He replied, looking over at her.

"So you do then," Sid said, looking over at Sheena as if he had just won the argument.

"I'm saying I don't know, but… I'll give you something to think about." He stood up, and made his way around the coffee table, standing in the center of the room. "Doctor Duncan MacDougall. He was a physician in the early 19th century who attempted to prove that humans had souls. He theorized that the soul is energy, and that, according to Newton's laws of physics, energy cannot be destroyed. And if the soul is indeed energy, it had mass and it if had mass then it had weight, and he attempted to weight the soul by taking someone's weight at the moment of death, which he eventually did. After six trials, he discovered that people lose about 21 grams at the moment of death. And to this day, no one can explain it."

"Ha! See!" Sid shouted.

"Wait, wait a minute though, people void their bowels when they die, and that has weight." Sheena attempted to defend.

"Yes, but so do animals, and he also preformed this experiment on dogs, and found that they didn't lose any weight at all when they die. He did this to prove that animals didn't have souls, just like the bible says they don't."

"So, you're saying you do believe in a soul…" Sid said.

"I'm saying I'm open to the possibility, yes, but I prefer the mystery of it all remains. Now, you guys can waste your time arguing about this, or… you can accept that we all have different views of the world, of how and why it works, and learn…" He moved over behind the coffee table again and put his bottle out in between them, "to get along."

They smiled at each other and nodded, then raised their drinks up to his and clinked them together. "You're right, Arnold." Sid said, taking a drink from his bottle.

He smiled, and stood up, making his way over to where Helga was leaning up against the wall, with a grin plastered on her face. "What?" He asked as he came up to her.

"That was pretty impressive." She murmured.

Arnold gave her a modest shrug, and placed his hands in his pockets. "Growing up, I've had to defuse a lot of arguments between people who were very different. I've learned how to handle it."

They eventually got in on the new topic of discussion, which was thankfully much less controversial than the one prior. And pretty soon, everyone who was left on the roof had made their way down stairs to join the rest of them. After a while, they were all gathered in the living room, and as space was limited, Helga and Arnold were sitting in one corner of the couch, with Helga sitting fully on his lap while his arms were around her waist. They were all listening intently to one of Arnold's stories that oddly enough, involved Helga.

"We had just gotten through with a three day training mission in the woods just off base, and I had been awake for 74 and a half hours straight. After I woke up 24 hours later, we were given the weekend off, so a bunch of guys from my company were going out to a lake and rent a pontoon boat for the weekend. And I remember our second night there, we were all sitting on the boat, and Eddie was saying that he was going to propose to his girlfriend when we were on leave right before we were shipped out, and another guy Tony was saying how he had this thing for a girl back on the west coast and he was going to go back there when he got out and sweep her off her feet, and then they said 'Hey Brightside, what about you? Ain't you got a girl somewhere?'" He paused when they all laughed at his attempt at a very thick Brooklyn accent. "And I remember I said 'Yeah, I do. I just can't figure out where she went.' A few months after, we were sent on leave, and since my family was all gone, I called Gerald, and told him that I was being shipped out. And she doesn't know this, but I spent the rest of the time looking for her. I wanted to tell her that I might not come back, and that I didn't regret anything. But I couldn't find her so…"

"What was it like over there?" Harold asked.

"Hot," A few people laughed.

"Did you ever kill anyone?" A few people gasped at the question and a few more others gave a very pointed look towards Sid, but to be honest, he had been expecting someone to ask him this ever since he got back.

"I was assigned to be the navigator in a Humvee, and there was one rule; if you get fired upon, let your gunner handle it. And Eddie was the best gunner in the company, so I just followed the tracer rounds."

"Enough of that! I want to know how in the world this happened! Helga wouldn't tell me." Rhonda said from her place by the TV sitting in a chair from the kitchen.

"You want the whole story?"

"Yes!" The group shouted.

Arnold sighed and looked up at Helga. "You want to go first?"

"Nah, you go ahead." She said.

"It was the first day of classes, and my first class was Creative Writing. I had been sitting in the back, listening to the professor drone on and on about what we were going to be doing in the class, and what papers we would have to write, and I was bored out of my skull, scribbling in my notebook. All of the sudden, the door bursts open, and I see this girl standing in the door, looking kind of out of breath, wearing a tank top, long blonde hair tied in a ponytail. She seemed to notice that the whole class was staring at her, myself included, and gave a shy smile and sat down in the front row. And I had to sit there, for two hours, studying this girl, to find out whether or not it was actually Helga, or it was just my imagination. Once we were dismissed, I shot out of my seat and walked up behind her, smoothed my shirt down, took a deep breath, and said 'Excuse me.' And this beautiful girl turns around with the widest eyes I've ever seen, and throws her arms around me."

There was a collective 'aw' coming from the females in the room.

"What about you, Helga? What's your side of the story?" Nadine asked.

"If you must know. I had gotten off the plane from Africa a few days before classes started, at Hillwood University, and I already had all my classes set up, so all I needed to do was just move what little I had with me into my dorm. So I spent the weekend getting settled, but come Monday morning, I forgot to plug in my alarm. And I ended up waking up at 8:15, and having to sprint all the way across campus to my first class. I got there a half an hour late, and sat down, pulled out my text book and everything. And he doesn't know this, but I could feel myself being watched the whole time, and I thought it was just someone who was staring at me because I threw open the door and acted like I did nothing wrong. But I remember that I was putting my books away, and my thought at the time was 'I wonder if anyone from high school goes here'. That's when I heard someone excuse themselves behind me. I turned around and Arnold was standing there. So, we hugged and then he told me all about how he joined the army, and I told him about how I joined the Peace Corps, and soon, we just kind of, started dating."

They had made a silent agreement to leave out their night at Rhonda's, but that agreement was void the instant Rhonda decided to open her big mouth. "Does this have anything to do with your little hook up at our graduation party?"

Their eyes went wide, then they looked at each other to see what the other wanted to do. "Uh…" Arnold began, but after he heard Helga sigh, he knew it was over.

"Yes, we hooked up one time at Rhonda's graduation party. And to make Arnold's story make more sense, I left the day after, left him lying in bed, with nothing more than a good bye note. So to make a very long story short, we ended up spending three years on opposite ends of the world, pining for each other."

"But weren't you dating that creep-o when you got back?" Rhonda asked.

"Listen, princess, you have to understand that I never thought I'd see Arnold again. So yes, I ended up falling for the charms of someone else, but it wasn't soon after I got back that saw him for what he truly is."

"I also heard that you gave him quite the thrashing, Arnold." Rhonda said slyly, followed by a sound of collective intrigue.

"Taking your girl back the old fashion way, huh Arnold?" Harold said.

"It wasn't like that, Harold. Yes, I did take action, but it wasn't for me, I was just looking out for Helga. And I honestly can't understand how everybody can know about that."

"Look, can we stop talking about that guy? It's leaving a bad taste in my mouth." Helga said over the chatter that was erupting. "It's bad enough I actually fell for him, and even worse I didn't see who he was in the first place. So can we just talk about something else?"

There was an awkward pause over the group, as people began looking down at their drinks, then casting side glances over to the people next to them, waiting for someone to say something. "So…" Gerald began, "Just to let you guys know… you're all invited to the wedding."

Luckily, that had started the call rolling on Gerald's proposal, then to the wedding plans thus far, then how Rhonda would be willing to design their dresses as long as she was allowed to advertise her clothing at the wedding, which they eventually agreed to, saying it would save them a lot of money, just not as much time. By the time Arnold looked at his watch, it was almost midnight, and his legs were aching from having Helga sit on them for the past couple hours. He had zoned out of the conversation, not really paying attention to what people were saying, but the words still registering in his brain. "This is a really amazing offer Rhonda, but I just want to make sure Helga isn't stuck wearing anything… well…" Phoebe trailed off, obviously not wanting to insult her.

"Honey, have you seen what she's wearing? She looks gorgeous thanks to me." Rhonda said proudly.

"She didn't need you, Rhonda, she was gorgeous before you." Arnold said, cutting himself into the conversation to both earn himself a smile, and to not let Rhonda's head get any bigger than it already was.

"Point remaining that I did an amazing job with her tonight, so much so that even _she_ agrees with me, so if you let me design your bridesmaid's dresses, you won't be disappointed."

"Wait, wait, wait, I think I missed something." Helga said. "Phoebe, you want _me _to be a bridesmaid?" Helga asked, sitting forward in Arnold's lap.

"Didn't I mention that to you already, Helga?" Phoebe said from her place, perched on the arm of the recliner.

"Uh… no…"

"Well, it's only makes sense that you are maid of honor when Arnold is best man."

"Pheebs… maid of honor, I… I don't know what to say…" Helga began, and Arnold looked over to Phoebe, who simply stood up and opened her arms to Helga, who then jumped up from Arnold's lap and rushed over to her, hugging her tightly.

Gerald leaned over in the recliner and stretched his hand out to Arnold, who stretched back over, and returned their handshake. Helga let Phoebe go, and came back and perched herself on the arm of the couch, giving Arnold a break, and letting him get his legs back, which were now in the pins and needles phase. The night went on, and shortly after, Sid excused himself and left the boarding house, followed then by Sheena, and Nadine, then Iggy, then Stinky and Lila, leaving Harold and Patty, Rhonda and Eugene.

Harold and Patty were just about to leave and were out the door when Arnold heard him shout 'sorry about the mess', in a very slurred voice. Arnold was too worn out to reply, and simply waved from the window as he watched them climb into a cab and drive off. "I'll get to work on the pictures in the morning. I got some great shots, especially of those two." He heard Eugene say to Rhonda. Arnold smiled at the thought of having some more pictures of the two of them. The only one he had was the one taken on their first date, and that was currently sitting on her desk in her dorm.

With one more farewell, Eugene grabbed his equipment and walked out, just as Rhonda was grabbing her purse. "The crew will be back tomorrow afternoon to clean up the equipment from the roof, and Phoebe, you have my card, so whenever you're ready, just give me a call, 'kay love?"

"Okay, thank you so much, Rhonda."

"No problem, dear, and Helga!" Rhonda called from the door way. Helga looked back from the corner of the living room. "You can keep the dress."

"Thanks Rhonda." She replies sincerely, giving Rhonda a warm smile, just before she gave a wave behind her and made her way out into the awaiting taxi. "Well, I'm exhausted, what about you?" She said, coming over to plop down on her side beside her boyfriend, who was leaned back in the couch, feet up on the coffee table, eyes closed.

Arnold opened one eye over to her and smiled. "Wanna give me a piggy back ride?" He said in a tired and slurred tone.

She cracked a smiled and smacked him playfully on the chest and got back to her feet. "Come on, let's go to bed." She said, grabbing onto his wrist as she stood up. He threw himself onto his feet and tossed his arm around her shoulders. "You guys cool to sleep here tonight?" Helga asked behind her.

"Yeah, we're fine. Thanks again, Arnold!" Phoebe replied. Arnold responded by raising his arm in the air and waved, only to have his hand hit against the arch way as he passed through the threshold, while he let out a slight 'ouch', making Helga giggle in reply.

They made their way upstairs, and Arnold immediately fell face first onto his bed. "What the hell happened in here?" Helga asked.

Arnold lifted his head off the bed and surveyed his room. His desk chair was knocked over, his desk had beer bottles strewn across it, with the contents of the draws laid across the floor, with the drawer itself sitting upside down in front of the desk. Arnold sighed heavily in frustration at the mess and let his head fall back to the bed, deciding he'd deal with it in the morning. "Arnold…" Helga said in a low tone.

"Mmm?" He hummed in question, face still buried in the covers of his bed.

"Where did you get this?" Helga asked in the same low tone.

He lifted his head and saw her bend down to pick something up off the floor. As she stood back up, clutching something in her hands, an almost pained expression on her face, Arnold bolted up right, a wave of adrenaline shooting through him as he remembered exactly _what _was in his desk drawer. "Uh…" He began pitifully.

"Arnold, where did you get this?" Helga asked sternly, turning to face him, a deep scowl now appearing on her face, holding her pink bow gently in the clasp of her hands.

He let out a shaky breath before slowly standing up, and running a nervous hand through his hair. "Your father gave it to me…"

Her eyes went wide at his confession. "Bob?"

Arnold gave her a sharp nod, "Yeah… he told me to give it to you, he said you'd know what he meant."

"Well, why don't you enlighten me, because I'm having a pretty tough time figuring out why you went behind my back and spoke with that bastard!" Helga spat, taking a few steps towards him.

"Helga, I can explain, I…"

"Please do! You know how I feel about him, Arnold! So what made you think that talking to him was a good idea?!"

"Helga, just listen to me…" He said, trying to calm her down, which he was obviously failing at. She continued to stare him down accusingly, as she stopped her march towards him, and clutched the bow tightly in her hand at her side. "Yes, I met with Bob… but only because he called me. He just wanted to talk,"

"About me, he wanted to talk about me. What did you tell him, Arnold?"

"I didn't tell him anything, Helga. All he said to me was that he was sorry that he left you, and that he knew you wouldn't give him another chance and…"

"You're damn straight I won't! You know how I feel about him better than anyone, Arnold, so why in the hell didn't you tell me that he called you, or better yet, why didn't you tell me that you met with him?"

"Because I knew how'd you react."

"You mean like this? Because not only is he trying to get me back under his thumb, he's using my own boyfriend, the man that I have loved my entire life to do it, and here I was thinking that if anyone could understand why it is I hate him so much, it would be you. But I can see I was wrong."

"Helga, just listen to me for a second…" He began to plead as she made her way quickly to where her shoes sat next to the door. She snatched up her shoes in anger and whipped around to face him, angry tears now leaking out of her eyes.

"You betrayed me, Arnold! You talked about me to the one man that I have every single right in the world to hate, and you're trying to defend him."

"Helga…" He reached for her, but she stopped him with a warning hand.

"I'm leaving, Arnold, and this time… don't come looking for me." She warned in a low tone and quickly made her way downstairs. He tried to move, to go after her, but all he could hear was the loud thump of his heartbeat, and the muffled sounds of her talking to Phoebe downstairs, just before he heard the door open, then close.

It was only a minute before Gerald was upstairs, to find Arnold looking down at the floor, a pained expression evident in his brow. "Bro, what happened?" He asked in a genuine voice, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"She hates me… She hates me Gerald. And she's right…" Arnold fell upon his bed and buried his face in his hands. "I betrayed her, Gerald. She trusted me more than anyone else in the world, and I betrayed her…"

"She'll come back, bro, she has to…" He encouraged fruitlessly, sitting down next to Arnold on the bed.

"She doesn't have to do anything. The worst part is…" Arnold fell backwards onto his bed, lying on his back. "The worst part is I don't even know how to fix this."

"Just give it time, Arnold. She'll come around."

"Last time you said that she was gone for three years…"

"Arnold…" Gerald tried once more, but he stood up, shutting out the sound of his concerned voice.

Arnold started for the door, quickly shutting down his emotions, his thoughts outside of what he was doing, it was something he was taught in the military, how to make it easier to make split second decisions, not to second guess yourself when faced with a situation that required you to do so.

He made his way downstairs, and over to the cooler in the living room, now containing only three beers. He dug into the ice cold water, and pulled out a bottle and popped it open, taking a long swig from it. Slowly, his emotions began furiously eating away at him, slowly squeezing his heart. In an attempt to silence them, he took another long swig, finishing off his beer, but it didn't work.

What he had done, what he had done to Helga, to jeopardize her unwavering trust in him, it all began to run through his mind, and it was all making him come to the conclusion that she probably wasn't coming back this time, that her hatred for her father was more deep seeded than her love for him was, and he had no one to blame but himself. In a fit of anger, he whipped his arm around and threw his bottle against the wall, and then collapsed onto the floor in anguish.


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: I know, you guys probably hate me after the end of the last chapter, but I hate to break it to you, but I have at least one more chapter to go before I fix it. Just keep reading!**

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Arnold sat in the kitchen, finally succeeding in silencing his mind, or at least the part of it that was accusing him of the situation he found himself in. He was leaned back heavily in his chair, staring at the top of the bottle that was in front of him. He picked it up off the table, and lifted it up to his lips, and threw the last of the alcohol down his throat.

"Yeah, it's alright, I understand. I'll see you this afternoon, baby, love you." He heard Gerald say from down the hall way. He mentally braced himself as he heard the footsteps grow louder. He walked in, clad in a pair of boxers and a blue t-shirt, holding his cell phone open in his hands, just before he tossed it down on the table. "Hey man, when'd you get up?"

"Never went down…" He said in a cold tone.

He heard Gerald move about the kitchen to his side, and heard him put a few crackers from the night before into his mouth. He came around in front of him and pulled out a chair on the other side of the table, and sat down. "I just got off the phone with Phoebe. She took Helga back to her dorm and spent the night there. Phoebe said that she's still pretty upset."

"I don't blame her. I'd be surprised if she ever looks me in the eye again after what I did." He replied, keeping his eyes on the empty bottle in front of him.

Gerald paused for a minute before answering. "I told Phoebe what you told me Friday night, about talking with Bob. She didn't exactly get what Helga was upset about, so I filled in the blanks for her, let her know your side of it. I hope that's okay."

"Yeah… that's fine."

"She's going to try to talk some sense into her but… it's a long shot."

Arnold looked up at Gerald and knew. "What aren't you telling me?" He asked in the same cold tone.

Gerald looked up at him with a worried look before leaning forward. "Phoebe said that Helga spent most of the night crying into her shoulder, said she kept mumbling on about if you love someone how you could betray them. It was a while before she managed to calm her down at get her to talk. I didn't want to tell you because…"

"Because you didn't want me to feel guiltier than I already do, well I can't get any lower than I am now."

"Phoebe said that she tried her hardest to tell Helga to just hear you out, but she wouldn't hear it."

Arnold let a deep breath out his nose. "You want to know something cruelly ironic? Helga and I spent all of last night telling people how we got together. We spent all night telling people how we fell in love. There was even a point last night where I said to her that I had gotten pretty good at settling arguments between people in the boarding house. But after a whole night spent with each other, bragging to people about how hard we fell for each other, we end up breaking up at the end of the night."

"No one ever said that you two were broken up."

"No one said we were still together either."

"Hey, man, you just have to give it time. She just has to realize that her love for you is more important than her hatred for her old man."

"I don't think she can, Gerald." Gerald seemed to give up, as he leaned back in his chair and looked down at his lap. "You know, I told her father how much I love Helga. I told him that my number one priority was making her happy. I told him that I couldn't wish for anything more in my life than to get to spend the rest of it with her. And because I told him all that… because I confessed to her father all that… I'll never get the chance to say it to her."

"Maybe you need to."

"No… she said to leave her alone. And for once, I'm going to listen to her. If there comes a time that she can forgive me, then so be it. But until then, I'm going to just… give her what she wants. And right now, she wants me out of her life." Arnold stood up, taking his empty bottle with him, and tossed it in the sink.

"So you're just giving up?" Gerald asked, watching as Arnold made his way out of the kitchen.

"If she's giving up on me, then I need to start giving up on us." Arnold made his way upstairs, and changed into his field jacket and jeans, stopping in the bathroom to splash some cold water on his face. He leaned against the sink and looked at himself in the mirror. He had large, dark bags under his eyes, and upon closer inspection, his skin looked a shade paler than normal. He sighed and made his way out of the bathroom.

By the time he came down stairs, Gerald was already dressed, and texting Phoebe. "Come on, I'll give you a ride back to school." Arnold gave up, tired of fighting, and continued down the stairs, but stumbled on the last one, missing a step and grabbing onto the banister before he fell to the ground. "Wow, take it easy, bro." Gerald came over to help him up. "How long've you been drinking?"

"Obviously not long enough, I can still stand." Arnold replied, pushing himself up.

"Arnold, bro, it's going to be alright."

"How do you know that?"

"Because I know what you're going through. You think it was all rainbows and kittens for me and Pheebs? You're heading down a tough path, Arnold. But you can get through it, you may not right now but I believe in you. What is it that that Italian guy called you whenever we came to see you in the hospital, Brightside?"

Arnold looked up to Gerald, and had to smile. "Yeah, Brightside, they called me that because I was always looking on the bright side of things."

"Someone has to…" Arnold smiled back in reply. Gerald put Arnold's arm around his shoulders and helped him to the door, then into his car. They drove off, and soon Arnold was beginning to feel better. Maybe they weren't broken up, maybe she just needs time to work through it all. Next thing he was aware of, Gerald had stopped the car, and was in line in a drive through coffee shop. After a ten minute wait, he was driving off, handing Arnold a large cup of black coffee. He thanked him and continued back to school. "Phoebe's going to meet us out in the parking lot," Arnold looked over to him with a furrow in his brow, "and no, she's not going to be with her." Arnold simply nodded in reply.

Pretty soon, they were pulling into a parking space in the middle of the parking lot, and stepping out of the car. Gerald scanned the parking lot, and caught sight of Phoebe, who was walking down the row of cars they were parked in. Gerald walked toward her and they hugged lovingly, and Arnold slowly approached them, giving them a moment. Phoebe leaned back and caught Arnold's eye, and smiled. "Hey Arnold,"

"Hey Phoebe." Arnold said, stepping forward. "Is she… I mean, how…" He stuttered.

Phoebe stopped him before he could break down. "She's fine, Arnold. She was asleep when I left." Arnold nodded sadly and averted his gaze down to his shoes. "Arnold…" She called to him softly, as he watched her approach him, reaching up to place a gentle hand on his upper arm. "I didn't get much out of her, but I did get one thing. She loves you more than anything else in the world. She just needs time."

He paused to soak in her words, more accurately, he paused so he could try and believe them. "Thanks Phoebe. I know… I know she won't answer if I call her but, if she calls you, can you just tell her the same thing for me?"

Phoebe smiled warmly, "I already did, Arnold." She rubbed his arm in a motion of encouragement, and stepped away to lean against her fiancé. "We better get going, I have that paper to finish."

"You're right, we better get ahead of the traffic while we have the chance." Gerald turned to Arnold and stepped forward, embracing him in to a brotherly hug, patting each other hard on the back. "It's been cool, bro."

"Yeah, it has."

"You let me know when you get your girl back."

Arnold simply nodded and patted him on the shoulder, as Gerald moved to step back into the driver seat of his car. He turned to Phoebe, and she stepped forward to hug him. "Don't worry, Arnold. She'll come around. And if she doesn't, I'll come down and knock some sense into her."

"Thanks Phoebe but I don't think that's necessary."

"Hey, when she told me she needed space, we didn't speak to each other for eight years. I let it happen then, and I'm not going to let it happen again. Helga may have the roar of a lion, but to me, it's the meow of a kitten."

"Thanks Phoebe, but it's the lion I fell in love with." Phoebe smiled again and stepped towards the car, and waved behind her just before she stepped in. They pulled out and both waved out the window, and he waved back as they drove off. He let his smirk fade as he took a deep breath, and turned around to head to his dorm.

His night spent awake after Helga had left, left him worn down, and very tired. He slumped to his dorm, and threw his jacket off his shoulders, and let it fall to the floor, and then fell down onto his bed, and flipped himself over to stare at the ceiling. _I should at least try to call her, maybe just to let her know that I'm here when she wants to talk. _Before he could say no to the idea, he was hitting speed dial one on his phone and waiting for it to start ringing.

Her phone went straight to voice mail, and he sighed, deciding to leave a short message. "Hey, it's me. I know I'm the last person you want to talk to right now but… whenever you want to, I'm here. I uh… I love you, Helga. I'll see you later." He shut his phone and tossed it onto his desk.

Before long, his eyes were drifting shut, and he was asleep.

_Arnold awakened to find himself sitting on a wooden bench, in a flat grass field, stretching out as far as he could see. He looked around, and didn't spot anything, no landmarks, no trees, just grass. It stretched out so much so that he could see the curve of the horizon. He looked down at himself, and found that he was dressed in the tux that he had worn to his grandparent's funeral. _

_"How's it going, short man?" A familiar voice said from the side. _

_Arnold whipped around, and saw his Grandpa, sitting next to him on the bench, dressed in his usual brown pants and white shirt with a pair of suspenders around his shoulders, smiling over at him. Arnold couldn't believe his eyes, looking at his grandfather smiling over at him like nothing was amiss. "Grandpa?" _

_"Well don't act so flabbergasted, kiddo. It's just your old Grandpa." He replied. _

_"I'm dreaming, aren't I? I used to have these all the time." _

_"I wouldn't call it a dream exactly. Let's just say I'm a projection of your subconscious that your mind is manifesting to help you get through what you're going through. So… yeah, I guess you could call it a dream." _

_Arnold paused as he sat forward and thought about the situation he currently found himself in back on his own plain of existence. "I was just trying to help her, Grandpa. I didn't mean to betray her. I even told her father that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. But now… I can usually fix things like this pretty easily but, I can't think of anything without…" _

_"Makin' her mad?" Arnold nodded. "Well, hate to break it to you, short man, but she's already mad at you. But, think of this, is she more mad at her old man for trying to use you to get back into her life, or at you for going to him and telling him he didn't have a chance?" _

_"She doesn't know what I said to him. She didn't give me the chance. Just the fact that I gave him a second of my time was a betrayal to her. The worst part is I knew that when I decided to meet with him. I knew how Helga would react if I told her that I met with Bob, but I went anyway." _

_"You're making it sound like you met with him for you. But you didn't talk about you did you? You talked about Helga." _

_"I know that, Grandpa, but as long as she won't talk to me, she doesn't know that. As far as she knows, I spent the whole time scheming with Bob to get him back into her life. I know her, Grandpa, she doesn't let things go very easily, if at all." _

_"Well, doesn't that mean that she won't let you go either?" _

_Arnold sighed heavily and ran his hands down his face. "I just… I don't want to feel like this anymore, Grandpa. I feel like I can't even feel my own heartbeat, I feel like it's a chore just to breath, like a walk across campus is a trek across Death Valley. I just feel like hiding." _

_"It's called bein' heartbroken, Arnold. But you're a strong kid. You've been through a lot, and you've come out stronger each time because of it. I know you've been hearing this a lot lately, but you just need to give it time. I'm not saying it's gonna be easy, but I'm saying it will pass, and you two will be stronger than ever because of it." _

_Arnold nodded and smiled sadly, just before he felt his grandpa's hand on his shoulder. _

_"I'm sure you know this already, short man, but I love you." _

_"I love you too, Grandpa." _

_"Well," His grandpa stood up, "you best be getting back. You're already late for class." _

_"Huh?" _

***BEEP BEEP BEEP* **

Arnold's eyes popped open to the sound of his alarm. He sat up, and rubbed his head, reaching over to turn off his alarm. He swung his legs out, and then realized that he fell asleep in his clothes. Looking at his clock, he also realized that he had slept for about fifteen hours. He decided not to focus on how he did that, and to just get up. By the time he got out of one of the floors showers, got dressed, and grabbed his backpack, he was seriously considering skipping his Monday morning class.

He looked at his watch, and saw that he had about twenty minutes before the class actually started. So, taking a chance, he decided to swing by the café. He was taking a chance that she had either negated her coffee this morning, or had forgotten about _them _and was expecting him to bring her a cup. Either way, he was taking a big risk, knowing that she still wanted nothing to do with him.

Thankfully, after taking a quick but accurate scan of the café, he didn't see her and ordered his coffee, then walked out. By the time he saw the lecture hall across the yard, he already wanted this day to end. He took a deep breath, and started for lecture hall, but stopped short, and shot behind a tree when he saw her. Once his pulse had settled a bit, he peaked out from behind the tree, just to… see her.

When his eyes took in full view of her, all he wanted to do was wrap his arms around her. She was wearing her Hillwood University hoodie and a pair of jeans, her hair back in a low ponytail. Even from a distance, he could tell she was tired. But he wasn't one to talk, even after fifteen hours of sleep, this thing between them left him drained, exhausted. She slowly made her way up the stairs and cracked open the door. He watched from a distance, through the clear glass of the door, as she hesitated to walk in the lecture hall, peeking her head in, and then walking in.

He released a sigh and shoved off the tree. He couldn't face her yet, if she had to see if he was already in the class room, then she didn't want to see him yet. So, deciding to give her what she wants, space, he turned and headed back to his dorm.

He tossed his backpack down by his desk and sat down on his bed. He fell back onto his thin mattress and lost track of time trying to silence his mind. Next thing he was aware of was a knock on his door. He gulped past the nervous lump in his throat and stood up. His door didn't have a peep hole, so if it was who he thought it was, he didn't have much of a choice but to talk to her.

He steeled himself and threw open the door, but as he took sight of who it was, his pulse steadied. "Arnold Shortman?" The guy asked, wearing a wind breaker and slacks, holding a tan envelope.

"Yeah, that's me."

"Got a delivery for you." He said, as he held out the envelope. Arnold took it, and thanked him. He closed the door behind him, and sat back down at onto his bed. He ripped open the envelope, and slipped out the large dark wooden picture frame, with a white index card sitting on top of it. '_Hey Arnold, I thought you guys might want this one for yourselves. –Eugene'_

He removed the index card and his heart went down into his stomach.

It was a picture of them dancing at the party. He had her dipped down, with her arms held securely around his neck, as he supported her with one arm across her back, the other on her hip, looking deeply into her eyes, with a soft smirk played across his lips, while she looked up at him with pure excitement sparkling in her eyes.

The longer he stared at the picture, the hotter the tears burned at the back of his eyes. Before it could get any worse, he tossed the frame lightly down onto his bed, then tossed himself back, burying his eyes into his palm.

They looked so in love.


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: If you guys didn't hate me after the last chapter, you'll probably hate me after this one. Let me know!**

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The next two weeks went by pretty rough for Arnold. He hadn't tried to call Helga since the first time he tried after their fall out. He avoided all his normal routs to class, not wanting to run into her. He jogged earlier in the morning than normal. As for his writing class, he sent a text message to Helga's roommate, Janet, and asked if she knew about their fall out, and after saying she did, he asked if she knew if Helga was attending on Monday. He couldn't afford to miss another class, he had skipped twice already. So, after Janet saying that she would pull some strings, she texted back an hour later and said that it was all clear, he hated to have to manipulate her like he did, but he still couldn't see her without it hurting.

He hasn't even looked at the framed picture Eugene had sent them since he got it, it was sitting shoved in the back of his desk drawer in his dorm. Over the weekend, he had kept himself busy at the boarding house, doing some left over chores that needed to be done after the party. He even went out to the garage to see if the Packard still ran. It needed a tune up, but it was still drivable.

It was now Friday afternoon, and Arnold was packing up to head back to the boarding house for the weekend, when his cell phone rang. After checking the caller ID, he answered. "Hello?"

"Hey Brightside, remember how you said that you owe me?"

"Uh… yeah."

"Well, I came to collect on that offer."

"Why do I not have a good feeling about this Eddie?"

"Get your panties untwisted, Brightside. All I need you to do is babysit Tyler. Me and my old lady had reservations as this place up town, but our regular sitter bailed out on us this morning. Think you can cover for me?"

"Sure, Eddie, I'd be happy to."

"You're a life saver, Brightside. Think you can be here by seven, seven thirty maybe?"

"I'll be there."

"Catch you later, Brightside."

Arnold shut his phone and sat back down at his desk. He had met Tyler a couple of times, whenever Eddie asked him over for a beer. He was a nice kid, pretty much the spitting image of his dad. And since neither he nor his wife had siblings, leaving Tyler with no uncles or aunts, he had come to know Arnold as Uncle Arnold, or Uncle Brightside as Eddie called him whenever Tyler was in the room. He was well behaved for a three year old, as far as he could remember. So babysitting was really no problem. It would be a nice distraction.

He still had two hours before he was due to be at Eddie's, and time was not passing by quickly, or easily. After giving up on reading, and homework, he leaned on his elbows on his desk, and laid his head against his palm, frustrated. Casting a cautious glance down to his drawer, he leaned back, and hesitantly lifted his hand up to the handle. He slowly pulled on handle and opened the drawer, and dug out the frame that was sitting face down, buried in the back. He kept it face down until he had it in his lap. After a deep breath, he slowly turned over the twelve by eight frame. A sad smile cracked upon his face as he looked at the picture, recalling how easily they moved together, how perfectly her body fit into the cove of his as he brought her back in after spinning her out. He could still hear the words she told him, looking him dead in the eye, the words that he was physically aching to tell her again, and aching even more to hear her say again.

He blinked away the burning sensation from his eyes and put the frame down onto his desk. He looked at his watch again, and saw that it was just coming up on six thirty, late enough to where he could walk to Eddie's, and still be early. He grabbed his phone, threw on his field jacket, and headed out.

He got to Eddie's apartment just after seven and knocked. His wife answered the door, dressed in a long blue dress. "Hey there, Arnold,"

"Hey Courtney," Arnold greeted in a friendly tone.

"Come on in, make yourself at home." Courtney stepped aside and waved him in. "Thank you so much for babysitting for us, Arnold. It's been a long time since Eddie and I have been able to go out."

"It's no trouble at all Courtney, speaking of trouble, where is everyone?"

"Uncle Arnold!" Came a small voice from down the hall. The small boy came running into the living room, and Arnold quickly bent down and lifted the boy into his grasp.

"Hey there, squirt! Man, last time I saw you, you could barely reach my knees." Arnold said.

"I know! Now I'm almost as tall as you!" Tyler said, poking an accusing finger into his chest, with a confident smirk on his face.

"Few more months, and you've be taller!" Arnold told him, setting the small boy back on the ground.

"I wouldn't count on it, sport, you got your dad's genes when it comes to height." Eddie said, coming down the hall, wearing a clean and pressed black tux.

"Well, it's a good thing he didn't get your genes when it comes to smarts. He's already out reading you, Eddie."

"And here I was getting ready to pay you." Eddie retorted, shaking his head.

"I told you that I owed you, Eddie."

"Yeah, well, either way, we appreciate it, Arnold. Don't we, Eddie?" Courtney said, coming up next to her husband and looping her arm through his.

"Yeah, thanks again, Brightside. We should be back around ten or eleven, but you have our number in case you need something. Hey Ty!"

"Yeah Daddy?" Tyler called from down the hall.

"You be good for Uncle Brightside, and be sure to be in bed by nine."

"Yes sir!" He yelled back, in a sarcastic tone.

Eddie shook his head, then looked back to Arnold. "Catch you later, Brightside."

"Bye Arnold."

"Have fun you two," He said and he watched them go out the door, arm in arm.

"Hey Uncle Arnold?" Tyler said from down the hall.

"What's up, buddy?" Arnold asked, turning around to see Tyler standing in the threshold of the living room.

"I'm bored," He groaned, as he threw himself face down onto the couch, making Arnold chuckle. "Can you tell me a story?"

"I suppose I can think of one." Arnold made his way over to the couch, and sat himself down onto the one small space unoccupied by the small boy's body. Tyler flipped himself over onto his back, and looked up at him, anxiously. "Long, long ago, there was a boy, a lot like you, just a little older. This boy loved his life, his family, his friends, everything about his life seemed perfect."

"This is a boring story, Uncle Arnold." The boy deadpanned.

"Well, let me finish it, and it might get better." After Tyler let out a sigh, he continued. "There was just one problem. His parents were great warriors, and just after they gave birth to this boy, a battle broke out and they were called out to help fight, leaving the boy with his grandparents, but they never came back. Once the boy was old enough, his grandparents told him about his parents, and about how they were great, mighty, noble warriors, and the boy was determine to find them."

"Did he find them? Did he find his parents?" Tyler eagerly asked.

"Yes, yes he did. But, he was too late. They were slain in battle."

"That was a lousy ending…"

"Did I say it was over?" Tyler looked up at him with a blank stare. "That's what I thought, now will you let me finish? Now, the boy was very upset to learn that his parents were gone. He vowed to avenge them, no matter what he had to do. So, he set out to battle the evil king that had killed his parents. He travelled for many years, and soon, this boy became a man. And this man still hadn't found the evil king that had slain his parents. So, he returned home, after searching for the evil king for so long. But when he got back, the same evil king that he was looking for had conquered the boy's home. So now, the boy had a new quest. He had to free his home and save his people from the clutches of the evil king. So, the boy fought his way up to the king's palace. And pretty soon, he made it to the king's throne room, but the king wasn't there. The boy searched the entire palace for the king, but couldn't find him. But just as he was about to give up, he found the king's daughter. And the king's daughter was highly renowned throughout the entire land for her beauty. She was so beautiful that any man who looked at her, and was not worthy of her, she would cast them out, never to be seen again."

"Was the boy worthy?"

"Well, the boy hadn't heard of this princess before, so he had never heard the tales. So he went up to her, and drew his sword, and said 'Where is the king? He has stolen my land and I have come to take it back!' The princess was surprised. No one has ever been so bold to talk to her in such a way before. So, the princess said 'Lower your sword, knight, I mean you no harm.' Well, the boy lowered his sword, and looked the princess in the eye. He had never seen anyone so beautiful before. The boy had been all across the land, and never in his travels has he seen anyone so pretty. So, the boy said 'I'm looking for your father, the king. He has stolen my land and slain my parents. Where is he?' The princess said 'You are worthy, brave knight. If you do what I ask, I will give you my heart.' The boy asked the princess 'What will you have me do?' The princess said 'The king is evil, and I wish to see him removed from the throne. He has kept me locked up in his palace ever since I was born. I want to see the world, I want to go out on adventures. If you defeat the king in battle, and take me far away from the king, I will give you my heart forever.'"

"You didn't say this was a _love _story, Uncle Arnold!" Tyler spat in disgust.

"Do you want to hear about the epic battle between the boy and the evil king or not?"

Tyler sighed and crossed his arms. "Okay…"

"Good, now the boy went out looking for the king, and found him hiding in the forest. The boy approached the king, and drew his sword. 'You took my home!' The boy said, 'You took my parents! And now, you will pay for your crimes.' The king drew his sword and the battle ensued. Their swords clanged and clashed together. But the boy had travelled all across the land, and faced many fierce beasts. The evil king didn't know he was the mightiest of warriors. The boy clanged his sword against the king's and threw the king's sword to the ground. The boy approached the king, ready to slay him. 'Stay your sword,' the king said. 'You have defeated me, brave knight. Please, spare me, and I will free your land.' The boy threw down his sword. 'You are to leave this land and never return.' The boy commanded the king. The king had but one request of the boy before he left, though. 'Will you make sure my daughter is taken care of?' The king asked the boy. The boy said yes and watched as the king went off, never to be seen again."

"…That's it?"

"Well, when the boy returned to the palace and told the beautiful princess that he had promised to take care of her, the princess was very angry. 'I am a princess! I don't need anyone to take care of me.' The princess yelled. 'I need only myself. You have defeated the king, and for that, you have my thanks, but if you think so little of me as to not defend my honor to the king, then I want nothing to do with you.' So, heartbroken, he returned to his home, and lived out the rest of his days alone."

"Wait, wait, wait… that's it? He just leaves?"

"What could the boy do? The princess didn't want anything to do with him."

"But he was the mightiest warrior in the whole world! And he just gives up? That doesn't make any sense, Uncle Arnold."

Arnold sighed heavily. "No, no I guess it doesn't."

"You have to come up with a new ending, that one stunk!"

Arnold laughed at the cruel irony, wishing how he could write himself a new ending. He glanced down at his watch, and saw that it was now 8:45. "Well, it's one that you're going to have to live with. Your dad wanted you in bed by nine. And its 8:45, so… report to the bathroom for teeth brushing, then to your bed, I'll be there in ten minutes for inspection, so move out."

With a groan, Tyler drug himself into the bathroom, and brushed his teeth, and then to his bed room. By the time Arnold walked in the boy's bedroom, he was already under the covers of his bed, waiting for him. "I came up with a new ending to your story, Uncle Arnold."

"Oh did you?" He said, coming to kneel down next to the bed.

"Yeah,"

"Well, why don't you let me hear it?"

"When the boy returned to the palace after defeated the evil king, the princess was so impressed by his bravery that they spent the rest of their days out on adventures."

Arnold smiled warmly at the boy's happy ending, "You're right. That is a better ending." Tyler smiled cockily at him, and Arnold ruffled the boy's hair. "I'll see you later, squirt."

"Night, Uncle Arnold." Arnold stood up and moved to the door way and shut off the light, smiling behind him and closing the door, leaving it open a crack. He moved back to the couch and fell down on the couch heavily. _If only it were that simple, _he thought. If only he could go back and change their ending like Tyler had done. He felt guilty for, in a way, dumping his problems onto the boy. But he didn't seem to pick up on the hidden meaning behind his story. Tyler was a really smart kid, but he was only three and a half. And yes, he had made connections in his story that were nowhere close to what they were in the real world, but it made for a better story, and Tyler seemed to like it.

Arnold sat quietly, flipping through the home improvement catalogues Courtney had sitting on the coffee table, until 10:15, when her and Eddie returned home. "Hey Arnold," Courtney whispered as she entered.

"Hey guys," Arnold whispered back, placing the catalogue back on the coffee table and standing up.

"How was he? Didn't give you too much trouble, I hope."

"No, he was fine. Maybe he could teach this guy a thing or two." Arnold said, pointing over to Eddie, who had his bowtie hanging around his neck and shirt untucked.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, Brightside." Eddie said. "We appreciate you helping us out."

"Yes, we had a great time." Courtney said, grabbing lovingly onto her husband's arm.

"Well, I'm glad I could help out." Arnold looked back down at his watch. "I better get going. I'll see you guys later."

"Alright, Brightside, take it easy." Eddie said, slapping him on the back as Arnold made his way past him towards the door.

"Bye Arnold."

Arnold smiled and waved and made his way out the door. Making his way down the hall, he debated whether or not to catch a cab back to the boarding house, or just head back to his dorm. He got down to the street, and it was mostly deserted, save for a few cabs and a few other cars. The city was eerily quiet tonight, almost calming, with a soft breeze blowing against his face as he headed down the street.

He made it a block down from Eddie's apartment when he heard his cell phone ring in his pocket. He dug his cell phone out, and checked the caller ID, which read 'Helga'.

His heart leaped up into his throat as his shaky hand flipped open his cell phone. "Helga?" He asked quietly.

"Arnold?! Oh Arnold, I-I don't know w-what happened, I-I…" She cried. Arnold's mood changed in an instant when he heard how scared she was.

"Helga, slow down and tell me what happened." Arnold said calmly into his receiver.

"Arnold, someone just attacked me…"


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: So, we are nearing the end of this fic. I all greatly appreciate all of your reviews, and your follows and favorites! I will write an Epilogue to this story, which will give me a great path way into the sequel, and yes, before you start biting my head off, I will start work on All in the Waiting after this. But in the mean time, let me know what you think!**

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"Someone just attacked me…" She cried into the phone.

"Helga, I want you to listen to me, where are you now?"

"I-I… I'm at school, I was just walking back to my dorm and then this guy jumps out from the bushes and he just…"

"Helga, where are you now?" He asked slowly.

"I'm in the parking lot, I was running and I could hear him and I just, I panicked."

"Okay, Helga, I need you to do exactly what I say. I need you to keep running, run towards the Old Smoke, and I'll meet on the way." Arnold had already started to run down the street.

"Arnold, I don't think I can…"

"Helga, I believe in you, you can make it, just get as far as I can and I'll find you as soon as I can. I'm not going to hang up, okay? Just keep going towards the bar." Arnold was already sprinting full force down the sidewalk hearing Helga on the other end of the line sob between breaths as the wind rushed by the receiver of her cell phone. Arnold was pushing himself harder than he ever had, sprinting as fast as he could down the street, keeping his phone against his ear the whole time.

As he got onto the school grounds, and ran towards the parking lot, he began to look around for her. He had told her to go towards the Old Smoke because it was between the school and Eddie's apartment. As he passed the bus stop just a few hundred feet away from the entrance to the parking lot, he saw her stumble out of the parking lot, looking behind her in a panic. "Helga!" Arnold dropped his phone to the ground and rushed towards her.

"Arnold!" She began to run towards him, and slammed herself into his arms, quickly wrapping her own around his shoulders, as he hugged her as tight as he could, burying one hand into her hair, and cradling her head into his neck as she sobbed into him.

He began to shush her and run a soothing hand down her hair, looking behind her to see if anyone was following her, only to find an empty parking lot. He finally let himself relax, and pay full attention to calming her down. "Shh, it's okay, Helga. I'm here, I'm here."

"Arnold…" She whispered, her voice still thick with fear. "It all happened so fast."

"Are you alright? Are you hurt?" He said, bringing her back to look into her tear filled eyes, cupping her cheek.

"N-no, I'm not hurt. I uh…" She looked down at her hand, and he followed her gaze down to her keys, to the key chain he had bought her. He smiled in relief and looked back into her tear filled eyes.

"Are you sure you're okay?" He watched as her eyes began to overflow with tears, and he quickly pulled her into him, while she made no motion to push him away. Instead, she flung her arms back around his neck and hugged him tightly. He hugged her just as tightly, letting her sob into the crock of his neck.

"I panicked, I didn't know who else to call." She muttered against his skin.

"It's okay, I'm here now. You're safe." He soothed her. After a couple more minutes of soothing her, calming her down until he was simply rocking her from side to side, she leaned back and brought her hands down and rest them against his chest. "Are you sure you're okay? The ER is just right down the street."

She waved a hand in front of her. "No, all they would do is make me wait in a plastic chair then tell me to sleep it off."

"You want to go back to the boarding house? I know you won't feel safe going back to your dorm tonight." She looked up into his eyes and nodded. "Alright," He smiled warmly. He quickly waved down a cab, keeping Helga wrapped into his side, and ushered them into the cab, and then gave the driver the address to the boarding house. They were silent during the duration of the cab ride. She simply laid her head down on his shoulders, and curled herself into the arm that was around her shoulders.

When the cab pulled up outside the boarding house, he paid the driver, and walked her up the stairs, then walked her inside. He sat them down on the couch, and Arnold pulled the blanket off the top of the couch and draped it over her. She grabbed onto it and brought the blanket up to her neck. "Can I get you anything?"

She shook her head, not meeting his gaze. "No, I'm fine." He nodded slowly, his hopes of helping her deal with this crushed when he saw that she was shutting him out.

"Well, uh… you can sleep in any of the bedrooms you want. Just… make yourself at home." He stood up and started out the living room. He cautiously put a gentle hand on her shoulder before he left, "I'm glad you're okay, Helga." She didn't look back up at him, simply nodded, and then laid herself out along the length of the couch and stared forward. He sighed to himself and stepped out of the room, but didn't make it very far.

He stopped in the hall and leaned against the banister, then slid down to the floor. Until now, he never understood the saying 'so close yet so far'. But she was just a few feet away from him, laying down on his couch, yet she was a million miles away. He shook his head at the emotion that was welling up inside him. _This is not the time! Helga was just attacked, and she doesn't need me taking advantage of her. She just needed someone to run to. She'll probably be gone in the morning and we'll be back to where we were. _

He took a deep, cleansing breath, and pulled himself to his feet, and went into the kitchen. He poured himself a small glass of water and sat heavily down in one of the chairs in the kitchen, staring into the living room. She was out of his eye line, but he knew that she had shut herself out from everything. He had done the same thing the first time he saw combat. But the difference here was that he had been trained to act in situations like that, he had been trained on how to deal with it. Helga was strong, but everyone has a breaking point, something that could send them over the edge, and if she could just let him be there for her, he would do anything to help her through it.

_"Arnold! Arnold please help me!" A voice cried out through the darkness. _

_"Helga?! Helga, where are you?!" He yelled back. _

_"Arnold! Oh god please no!" She screamed back. _

_"HELGA!" _

His eyes snapped open as his head shot up, his body coursing with adrenaline. He looked around and found Helga standing next to him, her hand on his forearm. "Helga?" He whispered.

"You were uh… you were calling for me in your sleep. I came in and it looked like you were having a nightmare." He looked at himself, and found that he was still in the kitchen, sitting at the table.

He leaned back in his chair, and rubbed his forehead, feeling very embarrassed. "Sorry… did I wake you?" He asked, dodging the chance to explain himself.

She looked down and shook her head, crossing her arms across herself protectively. "I didn't get much sleep last night."

"Are you feeling okay?"

She gave a nervous smile and sat down in the pulled out chair across from him. "Yeah, I'm fine, just…" She let the sentence fall.

"Shaken up," He finished for her. She nodded sadly. "I know that no matter what I say, it will still be there, but… it could have been a lot worse."

"I know, I know… but that doesn't change the fact that it happened in the first place. I just feel…" She crossed her arms tighter across her chest, looking off to the side.

"Yeah, I know. But… no matter what we're going through, I'm always here when you need me." He was hesitant to bring up their situation when she was in such a delicate state, and when she looked up at him with wide eyes, he regretted it. She averted her eyes and looked back down to her lap. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up…"

"It's okay, Arnold. To be honest, I've been having a tough time, lately, because of how we left things."

"Helga," He said softly, leaning forward. She met his soft and what was a desperate look. "I miss you." She looked down at his hand that was stretched out to the middle of the table and slowly and hesitantly reached over to place her hand on top of his. His heart soared at the feeling of her soft touch, the sensation of which made it as if he could breathe again. "I'm sorry, Helga. I never should have met with him, I…"

"What did he want?" She interrupted him in a cold voice.

"I'm still not sure. He said that he knew you wouldn't talk to him, so he called me. I agreed to meet with him so I could tell him to leave us alone. But when I saw him… he just looked broken. He said that he knew you wouldn't give him a second chance, and he even said himself that he doesn't deserve one. He told me that when he was bought out, he felt as if he had failed his family, so he ran. I told him that you didn't want him around, and he said that he knew that. That's when he gave me your old bow. He just wanted you to know that he loves you."

"That's it, that's all? He decides to show up now, after eight years, to tell me that he's sorry? Well, I'm not the one who drank themselves to death. I'm not the one who was so broken up about him leaving that I went through a bottle of vodka a day." Her voice had grown anger very quick.

"Helga, I know that. I already told him all of this. I told him how much you hated him, and he wasn't angry, he wasn't mad, he was just… broken. If he was still the man that he was eight years ago, I would never have sat down. But I could tell he was desperate. I could tell that he knew what he had done was unforgivable, and that he still wasn't done paying for it."

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" She asked on a sad whisper.

"I was going to tell you the minute I left. In fact, that's why I called you, when I told you I loved you. I was going to tell you that I had just gotten through with talking to him. I was going to tell you everything, Helga. But then… when I saw you standing at my door, you just looked so excited and happy, and I didn't want it to end. I didn't… I didn't want you to stop loving me." He looked down in shame.

"Arnold…" He felt her place both her hands on top of his. "It's going to take a lot more than Bob Pataki to get me to stop loving you." She said in a loving tone.

"Helga," He began, "there's something else."

He could see the fear whip across her eyes in an instant. "What is it?"

"When your father left, he took the money that was in his bank accounts and moved it to a bank account that was in your name."

"What do you mean?"

"He said that he moved it so you had something to go to college with."

"He's probably lying, Arnold."

"No, he's not, Helga. I saw the bank statement myself. As far as I could tell, it's all there. He wanted me to give you the information to the account so you could have it."

"Are you kidding? I don't want that money!" She said, shooting out of her seat in anger.

Arnold was on his feet after her, trying to keep her calm and explain himself. "That's what I told him, Helga. I know you better than that, don't I?"

"I swear, who does he think he is?!"

"Helga, you don't have to talk to him if you don't want to. And if you want to get back at him, the best revenge you can hope for is to not waste another breath stressing out over him. If you want to keep him in the past, then the first thing you need to do is keep him there. Helga, I hate seeing you like this." He reached up and cupped her cheek. "If you don't want him in your life, then he doesn't have to be. But I, on the other hand, do. I'm telling you what I told him, Helga. I love you, and if I'm lucky enough to where we get to spend the rest of our lives together, then I can't wish for anything more."

She smiled sadly, and placed a hand on top of the one that was resting on her cheek. "Do you really mean that?"

He responded by pulling her to him in a passionate kiss, that back fired on him when she returned it, steeling away his ability to think clearly. She weaved her arms around his neck as they continued to kiss lovingly. He buried one hand into her hair and kissed her hard, earning a small moan. "I've missed you too, Arnold." She spoke against his lips. "I shouldn't have ran out on you."

"Hey," He silenced her, keeping their foreheads pressed together. "It's in the past, let's keep it there." She ran her hand through his hair and kissed him. She pulled him back until he slammed her into the wall of the kitchen, reacting on instinct and hoisting her up by pulling up on her thighs, now wrapped around his waist.

"Arnold…" She moaned breathlessly, "take me to bed."

He stepped back and let her slide to the floor, only to surprise her by picking her up, her legs curled around his forearm, her arms wrapped securely around his neck. Effortlessly, he carried her up the stairs and into his bedroom, setting her gently down onto his bed. He laid himself down above her, attaching themselves at the lips, as their hands started to slowly work layers of clothing off each other, first her hoodie, then his shirt, then hers. She flipped them over, pushing him onto his bed, and he moved to unhook her bra. As she tossed it across the room, and leaned back down to continue kissing him, a thought flashed into his mind.

He moaned and pushed her back slightly. "Helga, are you're okay with this, after… after what happened last night?" He asked cautiously.

She entwined their fingers together and smiled lovingly. "I never said thank you for saving my life."

"What do you mean?" He asked, worry creeping up in his throat.

"If you hadn't gotten me that pepper spray, who knows what could have happened. So as far as I'm concerned, you saved my life."

"Helga, I bought that pepper spray hoping you'd never have to use it."

"I know, but because you did, I get to do this." She leaned down and kissed him softly, almost teasingly. "So thank you."

"Anytime," he replied, kissing her back fully. His hands started to explore her back, while hers started to run through his hair. After a few more tosses and flips, they had thrown the rest of their clothes off each other, with Arnold's hands pinned above his head, with Helga wearing a devious smile. As she sunk down onto him, he could hear her giggle at the fact that he had to physically fight his eyes from rolling back. He concentrated his view back up to her, to see her biting her bottom lip, probably knowing how adorable she looked when she did that.

She continued to grind down onto him in a slow pace, building a romantic rhythm of love making. Arnold leaned up and attacked her lips feverishly, his self-restraint tested to its last threads. She moved against him harder, increasing her speed in the process, as she returned his kisses with full force.

Lifting her up, then flipping her over, pushing her back into his mattress, earning himself another long moan, he buried himself as far into her as he could. Feeling the thin layer of sweat that was between then coating the skin on her breasts as he molded them with his hand, she wrapped her legs around his waist, and pulled him down until their chests were pressed together.

As they moved together, each thrust he made tearing away a bit of his control each time, he was losing himself in her very quickly. His thrusts became stiff, and sloppy, slipping from the tempo that they had set with each other. Her legs squeezed him suddenly, just as her muscles quivered around him, ripping away the last bit of control he had left, spilling himself inside her.

They sat on top of one another for a few minutes, trying to regain their breath, and before too long, Arnold pushed himself off of her. She followed by rolling over and into his side, resting her head on his shoulder. "Arnold," She breathed.

"Yeah?"

"Did you really mean it, what you said before?" She asked in a small voice.

"What do you mean?"

"You said… that you wanted to spend the rest of your life with me. Did you really mean it?"

He reached up and brushed her hair back, then pulled her to his lips for a soft kiss. "Yes, I did. And if you don't believe me, I'll just have to spend the rest of my life trying to prove it to you."

She giggled lightly and set her head back down to rest on his shoulder. "I love you, Arnold Shortman."

"I love you too, Helga Pataki."


	23. Epilogue

**A/N: And now, we have reached the end of this long road. I never thought Id get this fic this far, and have it be as successful as it is. Personally, I am very happy with the ending. But if you disagree, let me know! If you do agree, let me know anyway! Thank you all so much for reading, and keeping up with this story. It meant a lot to me!**

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"And now, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, for the first time ever, Mr. and Mrs. Gerald and Phoebe Johansen!" The DJ called out through the sound system of the reception hall, as a loud applause erupted, followed by a loud whistle coming from the maid of honor.

The wedding was beautiful, and Arnold had never seen Gerald so worked up before. But while the attention was supposed to be on the bride and groom, Arnold couldn't take his eyes off his girlfriend. Her blonde hair up into a stylish bun, wearing a light pink dress, designed by Rhonda, of course, she looked stunning.

And luckily, Gerald had gone with a black suit, so he didn't have to worry about the best man complaining about the tux color, so that was one worry out of the way, but now that the actual ceremony was over with, all that was left was the speech, and it wasn't the speech per say that he was worried about. He never had a problem speaking in front of people, and most of the people at the wedding he had known his whole life. He was just worried that he might be doing something terribly foolish. No one knew what he was going to do but him, and even he couldn't wrap his head around it.

As Gerald and Phoebe took their seats, they soon called Arnold forward for his speech. "And now, it's time for the speech by the best man. Ladies and gentleman, Arnold Shortman." The DJ said into the mic.

After a few hollers and whistles from Harold, Stinky, Sid, and Gerald, he approached the mic stand, holding a small glass of Champaign. "Hey everybody, for those of you who don't know, I'm Arnold Shortman, and Gerald and I have known each other all our lives. While Gerald already has a brother, and a younger sister, I was an only child. But Gerald is as much a brother to me as I could ever hope for, so as far as I'm concerned, today… I gained a sister. Most of you know that these two love birds have been together since high school, but what many of you don't know is how Gerald once asked me if it was still socially acceptable to put your coat down over a puddle for a woman."

"I was just curious!" Gerald called out over a few laughs.

"But, I've seen these two together since day one. And if anyone were to tell me that they didn't belong together, I'd call them a liar. It's not very often that you come across someone that you feel such a connection with that you can't help but hold onto them as tight as you can, and as I stood up there this afternoon with Gerald, I knew I had found that someone."

There were a few aw's coming from the female's in the reception hall, and after it had died down, Arnold continued. "I uh… I don't mean to steal the spotlight away from Gerald and Phoebe, but if I'm telling myself the truth, then I'd say this was very long overdue. And I might just lose a limb for doing this in front of so many people, but… I think she knows she's worth it."

A few eyes were wide in shock when the realized what he was about to do, with a few hands clasped over their mouths in surprise. He looked over to Gerald, who had a grin plastered on his face, as he gave him a small nod. Arnold stepped away from the mic, but the hall was small enough to where it they didn't hear what he said, they could at least see what was happening. He made his way across the hall and over to where she sat, pulling out the small, velvet box from his inside pocket. "Helga… Geraldine Pataki," He said in a slightly shaky voice, as he bent down on one knee in front of her, who looked like a deer in headlights, and popped open the box. "Will you marry me?"

A collective gasp could be heard throughout the hall, as tears quickly filled her eyes. "Arnold…" She gasped, as a smile erupted onto her face. He watched as a tear leaked out onto her cheek. She pressed her lips together, as she squeezed her eyes shut and nodded erratically. "Yes!"

He took her shaking hand in his own shaking hand, and slipped the ring on to her finger. He quickly got to his feet and she launched herself toward him, kissing him passionately. He wrapped his own arms around his waist and squeezed her into him, shutting out the loud applause and cheering that was going on around them. "We're getting married!" Helga said, ecstatic.

"We're getting married…"


End file.
